On June 21, the Argentine National Gendarmerie (GNA, in Spanish) seized more than 4 tons of marijuana in Misiones province, on the border with Paraguay. Authorities found the marijuana during border control and surveillance operations, the GNA reported in several statements.
During the first operation, a patrol of gendarmes located a truck that was stuck on a dirt road near Provincial Road No. 13, and found several packages containing 1,085 kilograms of marijuana inside the vehicle, the institution said.
During another foot patrol, GNA units found marijuana near Provincial Road No. 227, a few hundred meters from National Road No. 12. On site, agents found 131 bales with 4,825 packages containing 3,335 kg of marijuana.
The GNA has conducted important deployments that yielded positive results in neutralizing narcotrafficking at its borders, the Argentine Ministry of Security said on its official website. In mid-June, the Ministry of Security announced the incineration of more than 22 tons of marijuana that Argentine forces had seized in Misiones and Corrientes provinces in the first half of 2021.
“The incineration of [illicit] substances is the result of criminal investigation and preventive deployments to neutralize narcotrafficking,” the Ministry of Security said on Twitter.
During a March 2021 investigation, InSight Crime, an international organization that reports on security threats in Latin America, singled out Misiones and Corrientes as the top two provinces where illegal marijuana trafficking takes place in Argentina. According to the organization, marijuana is mainly smuggled into Misiones by way of the Paraná River. Nearly 60 percent of marijuana seizures in the country are made in this northeastern province. Marijuana is also smuggled in Corrientes and then moved further inland, InSight Crime added.
The GNA recognizes Minister Sabina Frederic for her role in the fight against narcotrafficking. “Since she became head of national Security [in December 2019], anti-drug trafficking policies took a huge turn in the country: Federal security forces’ operations have focused on neutralizing [drug] production, collection, and marketing carried out by criminal organizations,” the institution said in a statement.