Federal prosecutors were due to question the 11 people arrested in Copo department with 58 kilograms of marijuana, after operations that ran from Sunday night into Monday afternoon.[1] Federal judge Sebastián Argibay ordered the arrests of an organisation made up of people from Salta, Tucumán and one from Santiago del Estero.[1] The police base Muralla Norte El Mojón, in Pellegrini department, carried out the operation, and officers from the base found the load again in the bush.[1]

Uniformed officers intercepted the two vehicles, a Chevrolet S10 and a Renault Kangoo with five people on board, on Provincial Route 4 near San José de Boquerón and Pichanal.[2] Two men and a woman abandoned one of the vehicles and ran into wooded ground, and a search operation followed on Argibay’s orders.[2] Police made 11 arrests in total, took three vehicles and weighed the load recovered in the bush at about 58 kilograms.[2] Field tests by specialists identified the bundles as marijuana weighing about 58 kilograms, but the Panorama account gave a total of 57 kilograms.[3]

Officers also held a third vehicle, a white Citroën C4 Aircross with a man and a couple in it, whom they suspected of coming to support those who fled Sunday.[2] A woman who fled was found later in El Quebrachal, Salta province, and held in a police unit there pending judicial steps.[2]

Investigators believe the marijuana was collected in Bolivia and was headed for Buenos Aires province.[1] A police source suggested the receivers were Peruvians in Villa 1-11-14, officially barrio Padre Rodolfo Ricciardelli, one of Buenos Aires’ largest informal settlements.[1] At the time of publication the detainees were held in different security units, and the lawyers said none of them would testify until they knew the criminal charge.[1]