Couple held with 29.5 kg marijuana hidden in car gas cylinder
Gendarmería officers stopped a couple on Ruta Nacional 14 at Cuay Grande, Santo Tomé, and found 29 kilos 572 grams of marijuana hidden inside the car's compressed-natural-gas cylinder after the dog “Pucara” marked it. The Federal Court of Paso de los Libres ordered the drug and the vehicle seized and both occupants detained.
🇦🇷 Paraje Cuay Grande, Ruta Nacional 14, Santo Tomé, Corrientes · Argentina
Officers of Gendarmería Nacional’s Escuadrón 57 “Santo Tomé” stopped a private
car carrying a man and a woman on Ruta Nacional 14 at Paraje “Cuay Grande” on a
Saturday.[1]The couple said they were travelling from Puerto Iguazú in
Misiones to Concepción del Uruguay in Entre Ríos.[1]Both occupants were
detained.[1]
During the search officers were struck by the fresh paint on the
compressed-natural-gas cylinder fitted in the boot.[1]The drug-detection dog
“Pucara” showed interest when passing the metal cylinder as it walked around the
vehicle.[1]In front of witnesses, gendarmes dismantled and opened the
cylinder and removed 29 kilos572 grams of cannabis sativa.[1]El Litoral
places the checkpoint at kilometre 669 of Ruta Nacional 14 at Paraje Cuay
Grande.[2]El Litoral says the private car came from Puerto Iguazú in Misiones
and was bound for Concepción del Uruguay in Entre Ríos.[2]El Litoral says the
cylinder showed fresh paint and a small hole, and officers smelled marijuana as
they approached it.[2]El Litoral says a field test of the loose load was
positive for cannabis sativa and put its weight at 29 kilos572 grams.[2]
The Federal Court of Paso de los Libres ordered the drug and the vehicle seized
and both people held.[1]Gendarmería presented the seizure as part of the
National Security Ministry’s campaign against drug trafficking.[1]
Photos and video
Lead image of the Gendarmería release on the Santo Tomé CNG-cylinder seizure, published without a caption. Photo: Gendarmería Nacional Argentina.Photo details
El Litoralellitoral.com.arESSecuestran 29 kilos de marihuana oculta dentro de un tubo de GNC de un automóvil
Open questions the AI reported
The government release says the stop happened on a Saturday and was published on Monday 20 August 2018, so 18 August 2018 is used as the incident date, not a date the release states directly.
El Litoral's opening line says two men were in the car, while the government release describes a man and a woman; this report follows the official account.
No names, ages, nationalities, charges or later court outcome for the two detainees were published.
No street value for the 29 kilos 572 grams was published.
The government page's lead image carries no caption, so its exact content beyond belonging to this release is described from its placement and file name.
Only the official Gendarmería account and local reprints of it were opened; no independent account of the stop was found.
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Cleaning staff found a package of marijuana on a long-distance bus that had arrived at the Chajarí terminal in Entre Ríos after leaving Paraná, and the drivers called the police. Officers of the Federación department drug division tested and seized the substance and left the case with the prosecutor's office, with no one arrested.
Chaco police securing a woman's belongings from a room she rented in Resistencia found two cannabis seedlings, marijuana flowers and indoor growing equipment, and anti-drug officers' field tests were positive for marijuana. The woman was detained after another clash with the owner and released on the order of the anti-drug prosecutor's office, which kept the items but not the cash.
