The Resistencia Tax Unit formalized the criminal investigation and received the 100 days of preventive detention for seven police officers who were accused of trying to steal more than nine kilos of cocaineas part of an official process to destroy by incineration a large amount of narcotics material seized in federal cases.
The police officers involved are Commissioner Rubén Héctor César Alegre; Deputy Commissioner Franco Andrés Ramírez; Chief Officer Lucas Exequiel Martínez; Sergeant Gustavo Jesus Acosta; first corporals Juan Nicolás Almirón Núñez and Gustavo Andrés Quizama; and Corporal Néstor Ariel Urne Cantero. They were all charged with the crime of possession of narcotics for marketing purposes, aggravated by the number of participants and the quality of the officials in charge of preventing and prosecuting this type of crime, in real competition with the crime of embezzlement, all as co-authors, as reported by the Public Prosecutor’s Office (MPF).
The seven officers are members of the Problematic Consumption Directorate of the Metropolitan Operations Division of the Chaco Provincial Police, a unit that was responsible for the safe storage, custody and distribution of the narcotics material in question. In addition, among them were a commissioner, a deputy commissioner and officials who, before the judicial authorities, would have managed and formulated the respective authorizations for the destruction of drugs under their protection in the various federal cases.
The allegations were formulated by the federal prosecutor in charge of the investigation and trial area of complex cases of the Resistance Control Unit, Patricio Sabadini, and the acting prosecutor of the area, Ruth Hilgenberg, in a hearing to formalize the investigation and control the detention, which lasted more than six hours, on December 21 before the Guarantor Judge of this jurisdiction, Zunilda Niremperger.
In addition, at the request of the MPF, the judge granted a period of six months for the preparatory criminal investigation and approved a number of measures requested by the State Ministry, the Attorney General’s Office reported on its news site. www.fiscales.gob.ar.
The incident occurred on December 18 as part of an official process of burning narcotics seized in federal cases that was taking place in the United States Chaco Provincial Police Shooting Rangelocated in an area surrounding the town of Colonia Benítez. The procedure was carried out by the authorities of the said security forces and took place in the presence of the head of the Federal Court No. 2 of the Resistencia, Judge Ricardo Mianovich, and the secretary Martín Innocente.
On this occasion The secretary of the Federal Court warned of irregular movements by two officials Police officers at the time of handing over the drugs from a police vehicle that was used to transport the seized drugs to the incineration pit. Then, discovered the theft of nine packets of cocaine hidden in the cabin of the vehicle, under the driver and passenger seats and in another officer’s backpack.
After the maneuver was noticed, the narcotics materials, the backpacks stored in the cabin of the vehicle and other personal belongings of the patrol members were confiscated in order to distribute the loot among those involved.
Aside from that, A package was found in one of the backpacks containing a brick of a substance that appeared to be plaster of paris, impersonating cocaine as a substitute for the stolen drug, giving a total weight of 9,490 kilograms.corresponds to an estimated squared value of approximately $142,350as detailed by prosecutors at the hearing.
The first actions were ordered by Juan Marcelo Burella Acevedo, prosecutor in charge of the Initial Attention Unit of the Resistencia Tax Unit, and the case was later transferred to the Complex Cases Unit, which ordered two raids. In one of them, carried out in the house of one of the officers, a precision scale was confiscated, which, together with the quantity of the substance and its great economic value on the market, was significant for the prosecution “The group’s intention to reintroduce the substance into the illegal circuit”.
The imputative hearing
During the formalization hearing, Sabadini and Hilgenberg requested preventive detention of the defendant, emphasizing “the serious criminal nature” of the crimes charged. Thus, possession for commercial purposes, aggravated by the number of participants and the status of a public official, is likely to be punished with a prison sentence of 6 to 20 years, and the crime of embezzlement provides for a prison sentence of 2 to 10 years and complete disqualification.
MPF representatives stated that this condition would prevent the imposition of a conditional sentence, claiming that it was “objectively” a circumstance that increased the risk of escape or evasion.
Beyond expecting punishment, prosecutors stressed that it is appropriate to pay attention to “the nature and circumstances” of the commission of the acts, which are “of unusual institutional gravity” and “have shocked society and public opinion in recent days,” as well as the justice system itself, of which these officials are auxiliary.
“Here lies the particular devaluation of the behavior of the defendants, whose functional area of responsibility – since they are members of the General Directorate of Problematic Consumption of the Chaco Provincial Police – was focused precisely on the prevention and investigation of drug trafficking offenses and the custody of illegal materials,” they noted during the hearing.
On the other hand, the representatives of the MPF stated that although the defendants have roots in the capital Chaco – where they live with their family and work in a dependent relationship – and do not have a criminal record, given the characteristics of the case and the particular institutional gravity, they understood that such elements do not allow to distort the existing procedural risk, in particular with regard to the risk of obstruction to the investigation resulting from the status of police officers of the defendants.
Meanwhile, they emphasized the initial investigative status of the case and that it “reveals the existence of complicity and criminal conspiracy of these officers, who coordinated and participated with their knowledge in the theft of more than 9 kilos of cocaine.”
In this sense, they emphasized that the fact that the defendants are members of a police unit “presupposes specific knowledge of the functioning of the criminal system, the investigative techniques, time and forms of proceedings, which gives them an advantage to interfere in the investigation”.
“This handling of the procedure was observed in the same events, as they knew and were very familiar with the procedure for burning and destroying the narcotic drug and took advantage of the opportune moment to steal the cocaine in the presence even of the judicial authorities,” they added.
Finally, Sabadini and Hilgenberg mentioned that the defendants also have “actual or potential access to databases and sensitive information, as well as informal communication channels, even when not carrying out their duties.”
Given this overall context, prosecutors assumed that the defendants could broadly threaten or intimidate relevant witnesses and manipulate or conceal evidence yet to be produced by exploiting the pre-existing connections of the police structure.
Based on all the circumstances, the judge agreed with the MPF representatives that there was a “procedural danger” and therefore ordered the defendant’s preventive detention until March 31, 2026.
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