Argentina’s National Gendarmerie (GNA) raided a farm near La Caldera, Salta, and two homes in Monterrico, Jujuy, on 7 February 2022 in an investigation led by the drug-crime prosecutor’s office (PROCUNAR) and the Salta federal court[1]. Officers crossed rough, rain-swollen ground to reach Finca Berruezo on provincial route 122, where trees and jungle plants hid the crop[1][2].
Largest domestic find
The raids seized 7,205 seedlings, 1,008 germinating seedlings and 2,515 plants up to two metres tall, 10,728 in total, plus 74.874 kg of cannabis in buds and packages and 389 grams of seeds[1]. Officers also took drying sheds, a pickup truck, a car, two motorcycles, two rifles and a revolver with ammunition, electronic devices, 1,015,380 Argentine pesos in cash and case documents[1][2]. The plantation was described as looking like “a marijuana forest” and as the largest single discovery of marijuana in Argentina[3].
Two detained
Two men were detained as the main people behind the operation, while two further people were reported as implicated in the case[1]. The two detainees were charged with planting and growing marijuana but were not linked to a larger criminal group[3].
