(CNN) -- A former Bolivian dictator has been arrested on a charge that he exposed himself to a group of children and has been sent to a drug rehabilitation center, the state-run news agency reported.
Former air force Gen. Juan Pereda Asbun, who ruled the South American nation for four months in 1978, was arrested Tuesday after a father and a group of young people detained him because he tried to get a girl to get into his car after exposing himself to other children, the government's ABI news service reported Wednesday.
After his arrest, authorities said, officers found he was carrying two boxes of cigarettes loaded with cocaine, commonly known as "pitillos".
"After taking his statement, Pereda, who identified himself as an air force general, underwent a series of clinical exams, primarily urine, to determine the extent of drug consumption affecting him," said Col. Ruben Suarez, head of the Special Force to Combat Narcotrafficking.
The result of the urine test was positive for drugs, Suarez said in a news conference broadcast Wednesday by CNN affiliate Unitel TV.
Pereda, 79, was admitted to a rehab facility to treat a cocaine addiction, ABI said. He also underwent a psychological examination, Suarez said.
The cocaine found on the former dictator was for personal use and not for sale or distribution, Suarez said, adding that Pereda had not been linked to any narcotrafficking organization.
In a TV interview at the police station, Pereda denied any wrongdoing with the girls. CNN
