In the quiet streets of Concepción del Uruguay, Entre Ríos province, the scene seemed routine: A man on a bicycle stops at a corner, exchanges a small package and continues on his way. But behind this everyday gesture there was an action that ended in an exemplary sentence. The protagonist was a public hospital nurse who, according to the investigation, turned his access to controlled drugs into an illegal business. that moved in the darkness of social networks.
The Oral Federal Criminal Court of Concepción del Uruguay sentenced Julio Santiago Santillán, 34-year-old nurse, five years in prison, a fine of more than $5,600,000 and a permanent ban for selling fentanyl and other psychotropic drugs through the Telegram application. The verdict was handed down on December 4th during a shortened hearing, as the public prosecutor’s office (MPF) reported on its official website. fiscal.gob.ar.
The investigation carried out by Federal Prosecutor Josefina Minatta in collaboration with the Drug Crimes Prosecutor’s Office (Procunar) revealed this The defendant stole bladders from the Justo José de Urquiza hospital, where he worked in the intensive care unitand marketed them in open Telegram groups. “It was confirmed that Julio Santiago Santillán would acquire the substances through contacts within the JJ Urquiza Hospital, in this city of Concepción del Uruguay, and would subsequently market them,” the decision states.
Santillán was convicted as a criminally responsible author The trafficking of narcotics is in ideational competition with the possession of narcotics for marketing purposesin real bankruptcy with embezzlement, failure to comply with official duties and unauthorized sale of drugs that require a prescription for marketing. In addition, he must pay a fine of $5,684,145 and the cell phone he used to arrange sales was confiscated.
Judge Mariela Emilce Rojas, sitting alone in court, agreed to the abbreviated trial agreement The defendant acknowledged the facts and his responsibility. According to the ruling, the embezzlement conviction was based on “repeatedly stealing vials of fentanyl and other psychotropic drugs that he was entrusted with the custody and administration of as a result of his position.” Regarding breach of duty, the judgment states that “he failed to comply with the legal and regulatory obligations that regulate the handling and registration of narcotics and controlled drugs in the Urquiza Hospital.”
The case It started on February 18th with an anonymous telephone complaint to the local delegation of the Argentine Federal Police (PFA): “I would like to report a person who works at the Urquiza Hospital. His name is Julio Santillán.
Prosecutor Minatta ordered intelligence tasks that made it possible to verify whether the nurse was offering fentanyl in two Telegram groups called “Los más rico cdelu” and “Entre Ríos”. In these areas he posted messages such as: “Active sale of fentanyl vials in Cdelu” and “Distributing fentanyl vials, do not miss yours in Cdelu.” Photos of the vials and other psychotropic drugs were also distributed with the caption: “All for sale. Sold individually or wholesale. Fentanyl vial, risperidone tablets, carbamazepine and lorazepam. Check prices.”
Given the evidence, The public prosecutor’s office brought a digital intelligence agent into the investigation, who infiltrated the groups under the false name “Ricky”. Dialogues were documented in which Santillán explained the effects of the opioid: “It’s pure, it’s the strongest opioid on the market. 100 times stronger than morphine and 50 more than heroin. Nice to be on a trip and come back without any pain or anything like that, just have a good trip.” In another message he added: “Pure, high-quality fentanyl won’t kill you in three vials if you’re hydrated and well-fed. It will send you into neuromuscular ecstasy.”
On March 11, the undercover agent agreed to a first controlled purchase at the intersection of Avenida Ricardo Balbín and Boulevard R. Uncal. Santillán arrived by bicycle and delivered four vials of fentanyl in exchange for $55,000, an operation photographed by the PFA’s Federal Operational Unit Division (DUOF). The next day, the nurse offered 30 vials for $1,000,000.
With court approval, a second controlled purchase was made at the same intersection on March 20, which led to the arrest of the defendant. 34 bottles of fentanyl and nine blister packs of psychotropic drugs were seized from his possession. Four raids were subsequently carried out, during which a further 26 blisters and tablets containing risperidone and carbamazepine were found. According to the MPF, the 60 vials seized were the same batch that was in stock at the hospital.
In an extension of his investigation, Santillán He confessed that “for economic reasons” he decided to take a bottle from each guard and that after collecting supplies, he started selling them on Telegram.
The official report reminds that fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is “up to 100 times more powerful than heroin,” according to the “Guide to Good Practices in Drug Matters” prepared by AIAMP’s Anti-Drug Prosecutors Network (RFAI). The document warns of the danger of its massive and uncontrolled distribution and mentions the history of cocaine with carfentanil, which caused the deaths of 24 people in the Tres de Febrero district of Buenos Aires in February 2022.
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