649.8 kg of marijuana abandoned in Misiones seized in two Gendarmerie finds
Gendarmeria Nacional officers found 649 kilos 800 grams of marijuana abandoned in two operations in northern Misiones on 12 March 2026: 154.4 kg in the forest at Caraguatay and 495.4 kg thrown from a canoe onto the Parana bank at Colonia Mado. The canoe's occupants fled to Paraguay, and the Eldorado federal court and prosecutor ordered the drug seized under drug law 23.737.
🇦🇷 Caraguatay and El Frances, Colonia Mado, Misiones · Argentina
Gendarmeria Nacional Argentina seized649 kilos800 grams of marijuana in two
operations in northern Misiones, at Caraguatay and Colonia Mado.[1]A
motorised patrol of Squadron 10 Eldorado turned off National Route 12 onto a
dirt road known as Cementerio in Caraguatay after seeing recent vehicle tracks.[2]
With support from the Eldorado complex-crimes investigations unit and the
Montecarlo section, officers combed the wooded area and found four abandoned
bundles holding 216 rectangular packages.[2]Narcotest field tests confirmed
the Caraguatay bundles held 154 kilos400 grams of cannabis sativa.[2]
Two hours later, officers of the Nucleo section of the same unit saw people in a
canoe trying to cross the Parana River at a spot called El Frances, in Colonia
Mado.[2]Seeing the gendarmes, the canoe occupants threw bundles onto the
Argentine bank and fled towards Paraguay, and no arrests were reported.[2]A
search of the riverbank found 22 bundles of different sizes and colours.[2]Taken to the squadron base with a magistrates authorisation and weighed, 10 of
the Colonia Mado bundles held buds and the rest pressed marijuana, 495 kilos400
grams in total.[2]Noticias de la Calle likewise reports that those on board
threw bundles onto the Argentine coast and escaped quickly towards the
Paraguayan side.[1]
The Federal Court and the Federal Prosecutors Office of Eldorado authorised the
seizure of the drug and opened proceedings under drug law 23.737.[2]
Photos and video
Gendarmerie photos of the four bundles holding 216 packages, 154 kilos 400 grams of cannabis sativa, found in vegetation at Caraguatay. Photo: Gendarmeria Nacional Argentina.Photo details
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Source: Argentina.gob.ar (Gendarmeria Nacional Argentina)Gendarmerie photos of the 22 bundles thrown from a canoe onto the Parana bank at El Frances, Colonia Mado, weighing 495 kilos 400 grams. Photo: Gendarmeria Nacional Argentina.Photo details
Argentina.gob.arargentina.gob.arESEn dos procedimientos: Gendarmes decomisaron 649 kilos de marihuana que fueron abandonados en la selva misionera
Open questions the AI reported
The release says the operations took place yesterday and is dated 13 March 2026, so 12 March is used as the incident date; no separate date was published for either procedure.
No arrests were reported; the people in the canoe fled to Paraguay and no one was identified in the Caraguatay find.
No suspect, charge against any person or court outcome beyond the Eldorado federal court and prosecutor ordering the drug seized was published.
No street value was published for the 649.8 kg.
The Caraguatay bundles are described as cannabis sativa but the release does not say whether they were buds or pressed marijuana.
The release's title rounds the total to 649 kilos, while the combined weight of the two seizures is 649 kilos 800 grams.
The release does not name the municipality or department that Colonia Mado belongs to; coordinates are those of the Caraguatay town centre at locality precision.
The release calls the second location Colonia Mado, while a 2025 report placed a similar El Frances seizure in Colonia Delicia; the sources do not resolve whether these are the same municipality.
The Caraguatay town named here is not identified with a province department in the release, and another Argentine locality has the same name.
Police in Salta detained a 26-year-old driver during a vehicle checkpoint on Ruta Nacional 9 in Campo Alegre, La Caldera. Officers from the División Investigación Narcocriminal 2 seized 70 doses of marijuana and cocaine after preliminary field tests.
Road police at the Subfluvial Tunnel control post identified a 33-year-old Buenos Aires man carrying cocaine and marijuana in a van. Field tests confirmed 2.1 grams of marijuana alongside 5.9 grams of cocaine, and the case was treated as simple possession.
Cleaning staff found a package of marijuana on a long-distance bus that had arrived at the Chajarí terminal in Entre Ríos after leaving Paraná, and the drivers called the police. Officers of the Federación department drug division tested and seized the substance and left the case with the prosecutor's office, with no one arrested.
Chaco police securing a woman's belongings from a room she rented in Resistencia found two cannabis seedlings, marijuana flowers and indoor growing equipment, and anti-drug officers' field tests were positive for marijuana. The woman was detained after another clash with the owner and released on the order of the anti-drug prosecutor's office, which kept the items but not the cash.
