Gendarmes detained two men, aged 45 and 27, at a house in the Los Altos neighbourhood of Chilecito, identifying the older man as the alleged ringleader of a drug-selling network.[1] A federal guarantees judge in Rosario, Santa Fe, confirmed the charge and ordered 60 days of pretrial detention for six defendants.[1] Prosecutors from the regional NEA narcocriminal office accuse the six of belonging to an organised structure that trafficked drugs between February 2025 and October 2026, aggravated by the involvement of three or more people.[1] The 45-year-old moved between Monserrat in Buenos Aires, Rosario and Chilecito with his 31-year-old partner, who allegedly handled sales payments, transfers and logistics, while the 27-year-old allegedly sold the substances in the Chilecito region.[1] Retail sale in Rosario and Villa Gobernador Gálvez was allegedly handled by a 29-year-old and a 21-year-old, with the young woman the only one of the six to serve the order under house arrest.[1]
The Los Altos operation was one of 13 simultaneous raids carried out on 21 October by the National Gendarmerie.[1] In that house officers seized 1,541.73 grams of buds, 1,596.91 grams of chopped cannabis and 429.55 grams of trimmings from 31 seedlings, plus 66.46 grams of cocaine and mobile phones.[1] Officers also found 2,231 cannabis seeds and LED lights for an indoor greenhouse in the Chilecito house.[1] In a Chacarita house linked to a 62-year-old alleged chemical supplier who pressed pills sold as QDance and Rolls Royce, gendarmes found a climate-controlled grow with 12 LED panels and almost 10 kilos of marijuana, plus money, computers and seven hard drives.[1] The 62-year-old is described as the chemical supplier in the City of Buenos Aires and Olivos who pressed those pills.[1]
Prosecutors say the organisation stockpiled marijuana and sold tusi, ecstasy, ketamine and LSD to Santa Fe, Córdoba and Buenos Aires through cultivation, transport, distribution and sale.[1] The investigation began in early 2025 after 40 kilos of marijuana were seized in Rosario.[1]
