Adulterated cocaine in Argentina: the mistake of a drug trafficker who mixed it with opiates or a gang war?

The death of 23 people for consuming adulterated cocaine in a neighborhood in the province of Buenos Aires has caused a stir in Argentina. Not only because of the unprecedented nature of the case, but also because it has brought into discussion, once again, the problem of drug trafficking in the country, the gangs that control marketing in the capital, and the increasingly growing presence of synthetic drugs such as fentanyl. .

The authorities handle two main theories: the first is that the narcotic has been mixed with another substance; while the second points to a conflict between rival gangs for control of drug trafficking in the province.

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The operation launched by the Argentine police on Wednesday night, after the first cases of sudden deaths and hospitalizations due to respiratory problems were reported, focused on the gate 8 villa.

Villas, also called slums, are marginal neighborhoods with high crime rates. In Argentina there are 4,416 vulnerable neighborhoods and human settlements, according to the government registry Renabap.

In the specific case of gate 8, located in the so-called conurbano, as the areas surrounding the City of Buenos Aires are known, the local press highlights that it is a territory in which only elite groups of the police enter. In addition, the invasion of public space has made it difficult at the time for fire trucks or ambulances to enter to attend to different emergencies.

Villa Puerta 8 is far from Villa 1-11-14, located in Bajo Flores, in the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires (CABA), known for being a territory controlled by peruvian drug traffickerssuch as the Estrada González brothers – Marcos is in prison and sentenced to 24 years in prison, while his brother Fernando is still a fugitive – or the recently arrested Johny Ray Arnao Quispe, alias ‘Pantro’.

During the operation on February 3, the police arrested 7 people, including Joaquin Aquinas alias “The Country”a 33-year-old Paraguayan citizen and suspected of selling the adulterated drug.

Villa Puerta 8 is one of the poorest neighborhoods located in the province of Buenos Aires. Residents are used to seeing the drug being sold at retail. REUTERS/Agustin Marcarian (AGUSTIN MARCARIAN/)

WAR OR MISTAKE?

The Argentine authorities are still investigating what would have been the reason behind the contamination of the shipment of cocaine.

As we mentioned, a theory points to the war between drug gangs. For Carolina Sampó, doctor in Social Sciences and coordinator of the Center for Studies on Organized Crime of the National University of La Plata, this theory would not make much sense.

“It seems to me that there is enough market so that there is no dispute. So far there are about 100 cases, I think no one would infiltrate the kitchen of another (criminal group) to infect 100, 200 or 1,000 doses. Has no sense. It wouldn’t make sense to kill consumers either, it would make more sense to steal that lot if anything.”comment.

In this sense, the expert considers that the second theory, in which it is speculated that the traffickers would have mixed the drug with other narcotics to obtain a more addictive product or there has been an error at the time of preparing the unit products, it is more in line with reality.

“I believe that this responds to an attempt to generate a higher level of addiction by using more addictive elements, as until now it is believed that fentanyl would be. The management of fentanyl it is very complex, going over a little implies the respiratory problems that have been seen or the sudden death that has happened so many times in the United States. It seems to me that it has more to do with an attempt to generate a product with a lower amount of purity of cocaine and more addictive that would allow them to have a more important captive market than the one they had in that area. The other hypothesis is that it was a simple calculation error, that would be the simplest hypothesis. I don’t think it has to do with a dispute over territory or the market.”says the expert.

A DEA chemist reviews seized fentanyl on October 8, 2019, in New York. (reference photo).

It is important to explain the care with which the product should be handled. fentanyl. This opioid used as a pain reliever and medical anesthesia can cause muscle stiffness in the chest wall, respiratory arrest, and ultimately death.

Being a cheap product and 50 times more addictive than heroin, drug trafficking groups have begun to use it in their preparations. Between May 2020 and April 2021, more than 100,000 people have died from fentanyl overdoses in the United States, according to CDC reports.

It takes just 2 milligrams of fentanyl to kill a person.

Given this risk, the Minister of Security of the Province of Buenos Aires, Sergio Berni, preferred to be honest and has asked the population to discard the cocaine they have acquired in recent days to avoid becoming new victims.

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Source: Elcomercio