2,664 kg of marijuana seized from a truck in Córdoba; four held
Federal police detained four people and seized 2,664 kilograms of marijuana packed in 2,995 packages in a truck stopped at a service station in Saturnino María Laspiur, Córdoba province. The load came from Paraguay and was bound for San Luis, Mendoza, San Juan and Chile, and the ministry called the operation a record for the province.
🇦🇷 Saturnino María Laspiur, San Justo department, Córdoba · Argentina
Argentina’s Policía Federal detained four members of a drug gang in Saturnino
María Laspiur, a town in Córdoba province, and seized2,664 kilograms of
marijuana.[1]Officers stopped a Toyota Hilux pickup and a truck with a
trailer in the parking area of a service station, where the load was hidden
inside the truck.[1]
The ministry said the marijuana was divided into 2,995 packages hidden inside
the truck.[1]The seizure took place at Avenida Dr. Lamelas 200, on Ruta
Nacional 158 at kilometre 47.[1]The gang drew its marijuana from Paraguay and
moved it through northern Argentina towards Chile and the provinces of Mendoza,
San Juan and San Luis.[1]
Officers of the federal police’s San Luis delegation led the operation with
support from its Bell Ville and Villa Mercedes units and its intelligence
division, working with provincial authorities.[1]The ministry said the
inquiry had begun in late 2015 and relied on intelligence work and telephone
intercepts.[1]
The load was intercepted before dawn on Saturday 11 February 2017, in the urban
area of Saturnino María Laspiur, about 195 kilometres east of the city of
Córdoba.[2]
Three of the four detainees lived in San Luis province and one in Formosa
province, and the suspects were taken to the court in San Francisco and then to
San Luis.[2]
The load travelled in the chassis of a Ford Cargo 1722 truck, its trailer and
the Toyota Hilux pickup.[2]
The prosecutor leading the inquiry was federal prosecutor Cristian Rachid, in a
case run by the courts of San Luis province.[3]
Officers spent about 12 hours counting the load, which the outlet described as
the largest drug shipment seized in Córdoba province.[3]
Two men were travelling in the pickup and two in the truck, whose make was given
as a Ford Cargo 1752.[4]
Police sources gave the weight as between 2,600 and 2,800 kilograms and said the
inquiry had lasted about a year.[4]
Photos and video
Picture published with the Security Ministry's release on the Laspiur seizure; it is not captioned and no credit is given, and it does not identify the vehicle or packages shown.Photo details
Agenciafeagenciafe.comESSecuestraron más de dos toneladas y media de marihuana en Córdoba
Open questions the AI reported
The ministry's page gives 12 February 2017 as its publication date; the operation is dated to Saturday 11 February 2017, the date reported by El Diario de Carlos Paz and consistent with the before-dawn accounts.
Sources differ on the vehicles: the ministry and Diario San Francisco describe a Ford Cargo 1722 with a trailer and a Toyota Hilux, while Agenciafe gives a Ford Cargo 1752; the report says only 'a truck with a trailer'.
Agenciafe's police sources gave the weight as between 2,600 and 2,800 kilograms; the report uses the ministry's stated figure of 2,664 kilograms.
The ministry says officers from the San Luis delegation carried out the operation, while Agenciafe places those officers in Mercedes, San Luis; the units' exact base is not settled.
No charges, court decision or sentence for the four detainees is reported in the opened accounts.
The only picture on the ministry page carries no caption or credit and does not identify the truck or the packages, so it is linked rather than treated as a cover.
The ministry's line on three tonnes of marijuana and 300 kilograms of cocaine seized in Córdoba concerns other operations and is left out of this report.
Policía Federal secuestró dos toneladas y media de marihuana en Córdoba (El Diario de Carlos Paz) could not be opened again to check its quotations (access challenge: Cloudflare blocked access to the article; archived fallback unavailable (no accessible Wayback capture was found). No AI research was started); what it says is as the AI read it.
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