Faustino Ramón Aguayo Cabañas is a Paraguayan organized-crime figure who became one of the principal targets of Paraguay’s anti-drug authorities after an investigation into a trafficking network operating in the northern part of the country.
According to Paraguay’s Public Prosecutor’s Office, Aguayo was identified as the alleged leader of an organization investigated under the country’s “Dominio” operation. Authorities linked the group to international drug-trafficking activities between 2018 and 2019. The investigation also examined alleged corruption involving police officers accused of providing assistance to the organization.
Investigation and arrest
Aguayo remained a fugitive for a period after authorities publicly identified him as a major target of the investigation. On May 27, 2021, he voluntarily appeared before a judge in Asunción. The court ordered his preventive detention, and he was subsequently transferred to a penitentiary in Pedro Juan Caballero.
Prosecutors later formally accused Aguayo of drug trafficking, criminal association and aggravated bribery. In 2024, a judge admitted the prosecution's case and ordered that he face a public trial together with six police officers accused of allegedly collaborating with the organization.
The prosecution's case alleges that Aguayo played a leading role in coordinating the organization and that members were involved in the movement of large quantities of cocaine. Several major seizures made during 2019 were presented by investigators as evidence connected to the alleged network. These allegations are part of the prosecution's case and should not be treated as final findings of guilt.
Prison controversies
Aguayo's detention also attracted attention because of conditions inside the Pedro Juan Caballero prison. In October 2021, Paraguayan authorities searched a special area of the facility where he was being held. The episode generated controversy over alleged privileges granted to a high-profile detainee.
At the same time, investigators examined whether Aguayo had any connection to a 2021 multiple homicide in Pedro Juan Caballero. Paraguayan media reported that investigators suspected him of having ordered the attack, but this allegation is separate from the trafficking case and should not be presented as a conviction.
Current legal status
As of January 2026, Aguayo remained in preventive detention. A specialized organized-crime court rejected a request from his defense to replace imprisonment with house arrest and electronic monitoring, concluding that the circumstances of the case continued to justify preventive detention. The court noted that the case was proceeding toward an oral and public trial.
Faustino Ramón Aguayo Cabañas should therefore be described as an accused and imprisoned defendant, rather than as a convicted drug trafficker, unless a final judicial ruling establishes his guilt.
His case remains significant in Paraguay because it brought together allegations of international organized crime, police corruption and the use of the country's northern region as part of a broader trafficking network.
SOURCES:
ABC Color — Fiscal acusa y pide juicio oral para supuesto narco Faustino Aguayo ABC Color
ABC Color — Presunto narco Faustino Aguayo va a juicio con seis policías ABC Color
Paraguay Public Prosecutor’s Office — 2019 Management Report Ministerio Público de Paraguay
El Observador Paraguay — Tribunal ratifica prisión preventiva El Observador Paraguay
La Nación Paraguay — ¿Quién es Faustino Aguayo Cabañas? La Nación Paraguay
