Close Associate of Fugitive 'King of the South' Drug Lord Arrested in Uruguay

Bolivian police raided a mansion in July hunting for one of the world’s most wanted fugitives—alleged drug-trafficker Sebastián Marset—but when they arrived, he was gone. 

Marset is known as “The King of the South”, which is a brand that has been found stamped on bricks of cocaine, as well as “The Man of a Thousand Faces” for his ability to evade authorities using a multitude of fake identities. He allegedly runs a transnational drug trafficking network, and the 32-year-old has escaped authorities from Paraguay to Dubai, all while sending video messages to the media mocking the police.

On July 29, Marset reportedly slipped away from Bolivian authorities along with his wife, children, sister, and her sister’s partner, who were all living with him in the city of Santa Cruz using fake aliases. Shortly after, Interpol put a Red Notice warrant out for his brother-in-law, Sebastián Alberti Rossi, on murder charges.

Rossi this week turned himself in to authorities in Uruguay in the most high profile arrest of a King of the South associate since Marset’s recent disappearance. Marset remains on the lam. 

Rossi has his own history of outsmarting authorities.

The 28-year-old baby-faced redhead escaped from a minimum security prison in Uruguay in April 2021 where he was serving nearly six years on homicide charges. Rossi was reportedly given permission to take out the trash at the facility, where an associate was waiting to whisk him away on the back of a motorcycle. His escape caused an internal investigation by Uruguayan authorities at the time into how a prisoner serving time for homicide ended up at the lax facility, and then also received permission to pass through security to take out the trash. 

Rossi’s whereabouts remained unknown until after the July escape in Bolivia. It later became known that the day prior to Rossi’s 2021 prison escape, his partner Ximena Marset also left Uruguay. Rossi later allegedly entered Bolivia using a false document under the alias of a dead person, Ademar Cheneibo Arauz.

Even though 2022 saw the so-called King of the South escape arrest in Dubai, charged by Paraguayan authorities as the mastermind of an international cocaine and money laundering ring, and accused as the brains behind the high profile assassination of organized crime prosecutor Marcelo Pecci by the President of Colombia, Sebastian Marset and his family reportedly lived a public life in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, for over a year under their fake aliases. Marset even played forward for a second division Bolivian soccer team and appeared on several locally televised games wearing number 23.

Marset’s brazen exploits and continued ability to elude authorities around the world has caused international incidents in numerous countries. While the arrest of Rossi is the biggest blow to Marset’s inner circle in recent months, police still do not appear closer to finding the King of the South. Governments of multiple South American countries announced that they are looking for him within their borders. Interpol Paraguay boss Carlos Duré told a local radio station that he thinks Marset may be in Africa.

Rossi, on the other hand, will be sent to a maximum security Uruguay prison to finish the remaining five years of his sentence. He is also wanted for questioning by Paraguayan and Bolivian authorities for being involved in crimes related to Marset and his organization, according to local media.