What is known about the adulterated cocaine in Buenos Aires that left at least 20 dead and dozens hospitalized

The authorities in Argentina announced that at least 20 people died and 74 are hospitalized in the province of Buenos Aires for the consumption of adulterated cocaine.

The researchers believe that the alkaloid could have been mixed with some kind of poison or “fractionated” with some other substance.

LOOK: 20 people die from poisoned cocaine consumption in Argentina and 74 are hospitalized

The Minister of Security of the province of Buenos Aires, Sergio Berni, called for any consumer who has bought cocaine in the last 24 hours to get rid of it.

San Martin’s attorney general, Marcelo Lapargo, added that the incident is a “exceptional fact”.

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“It is an exceptional event, we have no precedent. It makes us think that the substance was deliberately included, it is not an error in the process,” the official was quoted as saying by the newspaper Clarín.

“I could barely breathe”

The mother of one of the victims, who identified herself as Beatriz, said, in front of the television cameras, that she found her 41-year-old son lying at dawn in the kitchen of the house where the two live, in a humble area of the province.

Police are investigating the content of the cocaine to determine what it was adulterated with. (MINISTRY OF SECURITY OF BUENOS AIRES).

“My son he went into cardiac arrest and could barely breathe. The ambulance took half an hour. But I understand that it is because there were many calls for the same problem, at the same time. My son has been a drug user since he was 14 years old, now he is intubated, but I have hope,” said Beatriz.

At the entrance of the four hospitals where the victims were initially transferred, families were seen crying and hugging each other outside, while they waited for information about their relatives.

Provincial government advisers told the BBC, it is believed that “the number of victims could be higher”.

what is known

Reports suggest that the drugs were purchased in the same neighborhood; until this Wednesday night there was 10 arrested.

In San Martín, police identified four of the victims as Hernán Castro, 45, Martín López, 36, Dino Melgarejo, 33, and Fernando Yacante, whose age was not revealed, the Argentine newspaper reported. in English Buenos Aires Times.

One of the users apparently told police that he had bought the cocaine from an individual in the Puerta 8 neighborhood in Tres de Febrero, which led to raids.

In the operations, packages similar to those that one of the relatives of a victim handed over to the authorities were found.

Investigators are awaiting autopsy results to compare the narcotics used by the victims with those found in the raids.

Reports suggest that the drugs were purchased in the same neighborhood. (EMILIAN LASALVIA).

The affected people come from the Hurlingham, Tres de Febrero and San Martín districts in the province of Buenos Aires and were transferred to local hospitals.

Outside a hospital in Hurlingham, a group of people who, according to local media, were related to one of the victims, attacked and damaged an empty police car.

Cocaine handling

Cocaine is a highly addictive stimulant that is extracted from the leaves of the coca plant and is usually inhaled.

A 2019 report on drug use in the Americas placed Argentina as the third country with the highest rate of cocaine use per personsurpassed only by the United States and Uruguay.

Minister Berni said: “Each dealer who buys cocaine, fractions it. Some do it with non-toxic substances, such as starch. Others give him hallucinogens and if you don’t have any type of control, these things happen.”

On this occasion, however, the drug was fractionated with a harmful substance as part of a “war between drug traffickers,” Berni said, according to the AFP news agency.

Added Substances

The envelopes, with pink contents, sold for $200 (approx. US$2), according to local police.

“During the pandemic, the consumption of alcoholic beverages and also drugs increased a lot,” explained toxicologist Mónica Nápoli.

So far there are 10 detainees. (MINISTRY OF SECURITY OF BUENOS AIRES).

Authorities are now investigating what kind of “poison” may have been mixed with the cocaine and whether the action was accidental or intentional.

As toxicologist Carlos Damín told the Buenos Aires-based television station TN, cocaine is usually “adulterated” in Argentina with “talcs and anti-inflammatories.”

It was initially speculated that the product had been mixed with rat poison, but this was not confirmed by local authorities.

The authorities They suspect that the substance used to break down the cocaine contained a very strong sedative.

The victims are believed to have suffered seizures and sudden heart attacks.

suspected fentanyl

Based on the symptoms shown by the victims of “poisoned cocaine”, the toxicologist Damín gave his prognosis: “Cocaine is a stimulant. And everything indicates that, in this case, it was adulterated with ‘opioids’, which have the opposite effect. People end up suffocating. In my experience, this was not accidental, but on purpose.”

The opioid in question would be fentanylaccording to local media and provincial government sources.

“It’s cheaper and also more destructive than cocaine,” said Alberto Fohrig, an expert in the fight against drug trafficking.

Poverty

The rescued victims came mainly from poor neighborhoods and communities in the province of Buenos Aires.

According to official data, poverty in Argentina, which has skyrocketed in the pandemic, exceeds 40% population of about 45 million people.

In the unpaved alleys, between unfinished houses, in the poor areas, where the victims of “poisoned cocaine” live or lived, many neighbors seemed afraid to talk about the drug trade in the place.

But those who spoke showed their anguish.

“We are poor, simple people and we have seen these little children and now they can die. We are religious, we go to church, we don’t want problems. But today, seeing this situation, we are very sad,” a woman told the television cameras.

The sister-in-law of one of the victims who had been rushed to hospital said the drug had been used by people from different groups and from different places.

The same information was confirmed by the authorities of the province of Buenos Aires.

“My brother-in-law went out with a friend after watching the Argentine National Team play and took (the drug). He is fighting for his life, with an artificial respirator, and his friend died, ”said a woman who identified herself as María Morales.

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Source: Elcomercio