The Argentine Naval Prefecture raided more than 30 homes in the cities of Rosario and Villa Gobernador Gálvez to dismantle a group of narcotraffickers, on December 11, 2021. “The mega operation included the deployment of some 330 units from the Prefecture and 70 land and river vehicles to reinforce those deployed in Rosario,” the Prefecture reported in a statement.
Agents also raided farms located on islands of the Paraná River, on the border with Paraguay. Authorities arrested seven men and one woman.
“They were part of a well-defined criminal organization, with roles for each member in the commercialization of narcotics,” a judicial spokesperson told the Argentine news agency Télam. “According to reports, they had close ties with the Cantero [narcotrafficking] clan,” the judicial source added.
According to the investigation, the gang was hiding drugs and weapons on the islands of the Paraná River. “The cocaine and marijuana were transported from the mainland to the islands and, after a few days, were put back on the street through people who distributed them to different point of sales for drugs,” the Prefecture reported. “Later, one of the gang members was in charge of collecting the profits generated,” the Prefecture said.
During the raids, agents seized cocaine, marijuana, vehicles, weapons, ammunition, cell phones, tablets, computers, flash drives, cash, and precision instruments to weigh, cut, and divide the drugs.
Chemical precursors
On December 5, Argentine Gendarmerie officials intercepted a truck carrying more than 27 tons of sodium carbonate, a substance used to produce cocaine. The operation began when agents of the “Rosario-Victoria” Squad 46 inspected the vehicle at kilometer 44 on National Road 34, near the town of Salto Grande, Santa Fe province.
According to the Gendarmerie, the driver did not have the documentation that the National Registry of Chemical Precursors requires to transport calcium carbonate. “As such, uniformed personnel seized the truck and 19 bags containing 27,680 kilograms of the substance,” the force reported.
More than 5 tons of marijuana
On December 17, members of the Argentine security forces incinerated more than 5 tons of marijuana in the Boulogne cemetery, Buenos Aires province. “The drug was seized in different operations by the Argentine National Gendarmerie, the Federal Police, the Naval Prefecture, and the Airport Security Police,” the Gendarmerie reported. Authorities destroyed 5,264 kg of marijuana, 10.6 kg of cocaine, and nearly 100 kg of coca leaves.
On December 15, in different operations on the Paraguay River, the Argentine Naval Prefecture seized a cannabis plantation and more than 200 kg of ready-to-ship marijuana. In one of those operations, the officers found more than 3,400 marijuana plants about 1 kilometer from the coast.
