Uruguayan Drug Lord Claims US Agents Tried to Shake Him Down for $4M in Crypto

Sebastián Marset, a Uruguayan national and accused South American drug lord, has fired his American defense team in a dramatic turn of events. In a handwritten jailhouse letter to a federal judge, Marset claimed that US agents attempted to extort millions of dollars in cryptocurrency from him.

Marset alleged that two federal agents demanded he provide access to his digital wallet, which holds an estimated $4 million. When he refused, they called his mother on WhatsApp and demanded photos of a notebook containing the wallet's private cryptographic access keys.

The letter claims that these messages are preserved and constitute direct written evidence of the extortive conduct. Marset also alleged that his rights were systematically violated from the moment he was taken from his home in Bolivia on March 13 at 3am and handed over to DEA agents, who flew him to the US the same day.

Marset described this as an 'irregular rendition that violates international treaties.' He further claimed that upon arriving at Washington's Dulles International Airport, his requests for a lawyer were ignored and he was subjected to an interrogation. The alleged kingpin added that authorities altered his official statements, recording his denials of guilt as admissions of acceptance.