Argentina government implicated in meth manufacturing and trafficking

Miami Herald:

A Federal judge in Buenos Aires said that raids could be ordered on the seat of government here, in a drug trafficking investigation that could stain a presidency already battling allegations of corruption.

The case threatens to expose links between presidential staff and organized crime figures suspected of importing precursor chemicals for the manufacture of crystal methamphetamine in Mexico and the United States.

Justice Maria Servini de Cubria issued a writ stating that phone calls had been made between the government’s Military Household and members of presidential staff where authorization was given for importing ephedrine, a crucial component in the manufacture of crystal meth, also known as “ice.”

The judge asserted that drug trafficking rings operating in the country were acting with impunity and with the blessing of politicians and security forces.

“If not, they would have been caught by the police (by now),” she told local media.

Justice Servini claims to have evidence of consistent communication between staff at the Sedronar anti-drug trafficking agency, presidential staffers and two men known to be importing narcotic derivatives.

One of the men involved in the alleged calls to presidential staff, Maximo Rito Zacarias, was accused of importing 1,000 kilograms of ephedrine and falsifying customs declarations.

Zacarias’ brother, Miguel, was private secretary to the chief of the country’s Sedronar anti-narcotics agency between 2004 and 2011.

The Sedronar chief in that period, Jose Granero, was indicted last month by the judge for importing components used to manufacture narcotics.
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Argentina has become an increasingly important transit hub for drug gangs in recent years, after importers of precursor chemicals began using the country as an alternative point of trade with Mexican cartels dealing in both cocaine and amphetamine.

The port city of Rosario has become the epicenter of the drug trade, where security forces have struggled to end a bloody turf war between drug gangs that has drawn comparisons with the troubled Colombian city of Medellin.

Cocaine is moved overland from Peru and Bolivia, where it is then smuggled to European markets via staging posts in Brazil and West Africa from Rosario.

Separately, Argentine importers source ephedrine from China and India that is shipped to cartels in Mexico, who use the chemical to make methamphetamine for consumption in the U.S. and Canada.
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There is more.

It appears Argentina is now competing with Venezuela as a transit point for drug distribution.  The government has a reputation for corruption and as a dead beat.

Argentina has become an increasingly important transit hub for drug gangs in recent years, after importers of precursor chemicals began using the country as an alternative point of trade with Mexican cartels dealing in both cocaine and amphetamine.

The port city of Rosario has become the epicenter of the drug trade, where security forces have struggled to end a bloody turf war between drug gangs that has drawn comparisons with the troubled Colombian city of Medellin.

Cocaine is moved overland from Peru and Bolivia, where it is then smuggled to European markets via staging posts in Brazil and West Africa from Rosario.

Separately, Argentine importers source ephedrine from China and India that is shipped to cartels in Mexico, who use the chemical to make methamphetamine for consumption in the U.S. and Canada.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/09/05/4330626/argentine-drug-probe-zeroes-in.html#emlnl=The_Americas#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/09/05/4330626/argentine-drug-probe-zeroes-in.html#emlnl=The_Americas#storylink=cpy