Officers of Maldonado’s Departmental Anti-Drug Brigade (Brigada Departamental Antidrogas), backed by the Republican Guard (Guardia Republicana) and forensic police, raided a residence in the Maldonado Nuevo neighbourhood on 21 May 2026 under Operation Jacobo.[1] Maldonado Police Chief Víctor Trezza declined to give details on possible new detainees or the people linked to the raided apartment, saying the investigation remained at a sensitive stage.[2] Trezza said the raid dismantled the kitchen where the group prepared and cut cocaine, and added that police had already charged and convicted some people while continuing work to bring down the organisation, which operates in Maldonado and San Carlos with branches elsewhere in Uruguay.[3]

During the search, officers seized approximately 7.5 kilograms of marijuana and 4.5 kilograms of cocaine, along with three modified 9 mm Glock pistols with their serial numbers removed, eight extended magazines and more than 550 rounds of ammunition, mainly 9 mm and .38 calibre.[1] Local coverage described the seized cannabis as nearly eight kilograms of marijuana consisting mainly of buds, and said the ammunition also included .32, .22 and .44 calibres alongside small-denomination bills, bags of uncounted coins and some US dollars.[2] Inside the property, police also found 140,000 Uruguayan pesos in cash, four precision scales, baking soda, syringes and electrical appliances used to process cocaine for distribution to local drug sale points.[1] Officers also seized four masks depicting US actor Robert Downey Jr., Russian President Vladimir Putin, businessman Elon Musk and Colombian drug trafficker Pablo Escobar.[4]

The raid followed an earlier stage of Operation Jacobo in which police arrested and convicted a 51-year-old man with no prior criminal record and seized 50 bricks of cocaine weighing 53.432 kilograms, cash, surveillance cameras and vehicles.[1] That earlier April seizure took place at a storage site in the Jardín Los 33 neighbourhood, where the man received a four-year prison sentence and police estimated the cocaine’s market value at more than half a million US dollars.[2] The continuing investigation remained under Maldonado’s Second Turn Prosecutor’s Office (Fiscalía de 2.º Turno de Maldonado), led by prosecutor Jessica Pereira.[1]