Gendarmería Nacional Argentina reported seizures of more than 20 kilograms of marijuana in three separate procedures in Misiones, all on the orders of the magistrate handling each case.[1] The first procedure took place at the bus terminal in the city of Posadas, where officers of the Núcleo section of Escuadrón 50 Posadas, a Gendarmería squadron, were carrying out checks.[1] Inspecting a long-distance bus, the officers smelled a strong characteristic smell of marijuana and searched a female passenger’s handbag, finding rectangular packages of plant material weighing 9 kilos 985 grams in total.[1] MisionesOnline reported that the officers grew suspicious of two adult women travelling with minors in the early hours.[2] Both women were released subject to the case, MisionesOnline reported.[2]

In a second operation, officers of the El Arco road section opened a courier parcel holding three bricks of cannabis sativa that weighed 2 kilos 134 grams.[1] In a third procedure, officers of the El Alcázar group, part of Escuadrón 11 San Ignacio, were deployed on Ruta Provincial N° 11 near the locality of El Alcázar when two men on a motorcycle approached the checkpoint.[2] The two men sped away when they saw the force, fleeing towards Colonia Tarumá, and threw away a bundle holding 8 kilos 445 grams of marijuana.[2] The release does not say whether the motorcyclists were caught, and it reported no arrest in the parcels case.[1]

MisionesOnline reported that field tests identified the material found on the bus as cannabis sativa and put a price on each of the three loads.[2] The three seizures together came to 20 kilos 564 grams of marijuana, matching the release’s headline of more than 20 kilograms.[1] The magistrate handling each case, as the release calls the responsible federal judge, ordered the three loads seized.[1]