A pre-dawn police raid targeting the family home of a Paraguayan lawmaker in a notorious drug smuggling haven turned into a chaotic shootout that left the lawmaker dead and the nation on edge.

The killing of Eulalio “Lalo” Gomes, a 67-year-old rancher and lawmaker from Paraguay’s long-ruling Colorado party, also served as a grim reminder of the web of collusion between politicians’ families and organized crime in Paraguay, experts said.