In an abbreviated trial, the Federal Oral Court of Corrientes convicted a drug trafficking gang that operated in the town of Ituzaingó and imported important shipments of marijuana from Paraguay through Lake Yacyretá, of the Paraná River.
A truck driver from the province of Córdoba, an electrician from the city of Posadas, Misiones; and a rural laborer from San Ignacio, Misiones, were sentenced to sentences of 3, 4 and 6 years in prison for the crime of transporting and trading narcotics.
According to the accusation, it all began in January 2021, the Intelligence and Criminal Investigation Delegation of the Prefecture of the Alto Paraná Zone after having learned that a person from the town of Ituzaingó – Province of Corrientes, would have contacts in the Republic of Paraguay and would be dedicated to activities related to the violation of law 23,737; in turn counting on the help of family members, residents in the city of Posadas-Province of Misiones; who would own lots and land in Paraje Santa Tecla (province of Corrientes) and Nemesio Parma (Province of Misiones), places that would be used for loading and unloading illicit merchandise.
On May 27, 2021, in a mega operation by water and land, specialized personnel from the Argentine Naval Prefecture seized a multimillion-dollar shipment of more than six tons of bread and marijuana buds and detained a man, in a procedure carried out in the town Corrientes of Ituzaingó.
The procedure took place in the early morning when a patrol from the Argentine Maritime Authority, which was carrying out a routine patrol, detected the crossing of a boat from Paraguay, near Lake Yacyretá.
Given the presumption of being involved in an illegal act, a search operation was mounted by water and land, which made it possible to find the boat on the coast and a truck, driven by a man, near the place.
Upon examining the vehicle, it was found that it was carrying a large number of packages with marijuana, hidden among the remains of pine trees.
As a result of the search, it was found that it was a shipment of more than 6,000 kilos of marijuana, including bread and buds of the same substance, which were seized by order of Federal Court No. 2 of Corrientes.
The other procedure was carried out on July 3 when members of the Argentine Naval Prefecture seized a shipment of more than 5,300 kilograms of marijuana after carrying out a huge operational deployment in the city of Ituzaingó, Corrientes.
The shipment, which was being transported by a truck, was part of a criminal investigation that the National Maritime Authority had been carrying out and that anticipated an operation of this size.
The Force decided to mount a series of combined patrols in the area of Lake Yacyretá, at kilometer 1,527 of the Paraná River, to find the possible transfer of drugs.
This determined that, through intensive searches and searches, the Force personnel managed to find a truck that, elusively, appeared to be recently abandoned. However, the vehicle was loaded with a large number of packages, similar to those used to transport marijuana.
Following the clues of the investigation and the determined work to neutralize the drug trafficking operation, the officers proceeded to inspect the truck’s load, verifying that inside there were more than 5.3 tons of marijuana, distributed in 6,887 “loaves” . (NG)
