Gendarmería seizes 301 kg of marijuana and holds eight in Santiago del Estero
Gendarmería Nacional searched 10 properties in Santiago del Estero city, La Banda and Añatuya after a year-long investigation and detained eight people accused of distributing drugs. Officers seized 301 kilos 712 grams of marijuana, three firearms, 10 vehicles, phones and 2,767,150 pesos in cash; El Liberal put the raid on 31 October 2024.
🇦🇷 Santiago del Estero, La Banda and Añatuya, Santiago del Estero province · Argentina
Gendarmes of the Anti-Drug Investigations Section “Santiago del Estero” and
other Gendarmería Nacional units carried out 10 simultaneous searches in the
provincial capital, La Banda and Añatuya.[1]The operations dismantled a
criminal organisation that the force said distributed drugs to cities in
Santiago del Estero province.[1]The searches came after a year of
investigation, and the force said they were ordered because a shipment was about
to move to supply other cities.[1]Eight people were detained in the searches.[1]
Officers seized301 kilos712 grams of marijuana.[1]The searches also
produced 78 grams of cocaine, which is not cannabis and is left out of the
cannabis figures.[1]Gendarmería also took 48 mobile phones, three firearms,
six motorcycles, four cars, 2,767,150 Argentine pesos, three precision scales
and case documents.[1]
The Juzgado Federal Nº 2 of Santiago del Estero, the local federal court,
ordered the searches.[2]El Liberal reported that gendarmes found and weighed
301 kg of marijuana in a house on Avenida del Libertador at number 1000 in the
provincial capital, described as the base of an alleged distributor.[3]
In other homes the same raids produced 809 grams of marijuana bud, one marijuana
seedling, a further 88 grams of cocaine, seven cars and 11 motorcycles, almost 3
million pesos in cash and 6 million pesos in cheques, 58 phones, six firearms
and six scales, in El Liberal’s tally.[3]
Photos and video
Lead picture of the release on the Santiago del Estero raids, published without a caption. Photo: Gendarmería Nacional Argentina.Photo details
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Source: Argentina.gob.ar (Gendarmería Nacional)Uncaptioned Gendarmería photo published with the report of the 10 searches. Photo: Gendarmería Nacional Argentina.Photo details
El Liberalelliberal.com.arESSecuestran 301 kg de marihuana y cae distribuidor por redadas en Capital, Banda y Añatuya
Open questions the AI reported
The exact day of the searches is inferred: the submitted release gives only its publication date of 1 November 2024, while the Gendarmería release says they happened "yesterday", so 31 October 2024 is used.
The official accounts give no figures for plants or seedlings, so only the elapsed "one marijuana seedling" reported by El Liberal is noted in the text and no plant count is recorded.
The bands' accounts differ on the seizures: Gendarmería states three firearms, six motorcycles, four cars, 2,767,150 pesos and 48 phones, while El Liberal gives six firearms, 11 motorcycles, seven cars, 58 phones and roughly 3 million pesos cash plus 6 million pesos in cheques; the official numbers are used in the figures.
The detainee count also differs: the national government and Gendarmería releases report eight detained, while El Liberal, working from a night-time preliminary tally, reported seven.
No street value for the marijuana was published, so no value is recorded.
The case was at the investigation stage; no charge sheet, pre-trial detention decision or court outcome was reported in the opened accounts.
The official release does not give street addresses or districts, so the pin is the provincial centre rather than a raid location.
The Gendarmería and Ministry of Security releases are two official accounts of the same operation, and the handout photographs carry no captions or credits.
Left out, as its quotation was not found in Argentina.gob.ar (Gendarmería Nacional): A separate Gendarmería release on the same operation gives its date as "yesterday" next to 1 November 2024, placing the raids on 31 October.
Left out, as its quotation was not found in El Liberal: El Liberal listed seven detainees held at the Gendarmería base and reported that they were suspected of breaking Law 23,737, Argentina's narcotics law.
Entre Ríos police searched a home in Nogoyá on 10 November 2026 and detained one person in a narcomenudeo investigation. Officers seized small quantities of cocaine and marijuana, more than 100,000 pesos, two phones, a digital scale and nylon cuttings.
Police raided two homes in Cipolletti's Barrio 1200 Viviendas on 9 November 2026 after a three-month inquiry into retail drug sales, seizing portioned marijuana and cocaine, scales, cash and a pistol. Six adults were notified that a federal narcotics case had been opened against them under Argentina's drug law, though no arrests were reported.
Catamarca police searched a house on Calle 2 de Febrero in Santa María city and seized 27 marijuana seedlings, a gram scale and two phones, with the case under the federal court in Catamarca. Officers also reported suspected cocaine and detained a 27-year-old man at the end of the search.
Corrientes police detained a 21-year-old with an outstanding capture request in a raid on a house on Calle Castillo in Curuzú Cuatiá on 8 November 2026. Officers seized cocaine, marijuana, two firearms, a phone and cash, publishing no weights.
