DistantNews
Support us
🇺🇾 Uruguay /Crime & Justice

Another Suspect Held in Custody Over Multimillion-Dollar Drug Shipment Seized in Artigas

From El País · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Official statement In the courts
  • A 38-year-old man became the sixth person charged in Uruguay's Operation Polux and received 180 days of pretrial detention.
  • Authorities seized 300 kilograms of cocaine and 100 kilograms of pasta base after a plane dropped packages near Baltasar Brum in Artigas.
  • Police said the suspected criminal structure had foreign links and seized vehicles, a firearm, phones, aviation fuel and other equipment.

A 38-year-old man has been placed in pretrial detention for 180 days, becoming the sixth person charged in Uruguay's investigation into a 400-kilogram drug shipment seized in Artigas.

Prosecutors charged him as an accomplice in the particularly aggravated illicit trafficking of narcotics, involving importation. The case, known as Operation Polux, concerns 300 kilograms of cocaine and 100 kilograms of pasta base that authorities say were dropped from a small plane.

Interior Minister Carlos Negro said the investigation began in February, when police started monitoring people linked to the case in Artigas and Salto. Police identified a rural area near Baltasar Brum as a likely landing site for the shipment. During Thursday's operation, officers saw a plane fly over the area and several packages fall from it while suspected members of the group waited to collect them.

very complex

· Pablo LotitoThe police commissioner described the suspected criminal structure involved in the operation.

Police intercepted three vehicles at the site and carried out 11 simultaneous raids in Salto, detaining seven people. The alleged leader, a 40-year-old man, had been arrested in 2019 with 800 kilograms of cocaine in Ciudad de la Costa, Canelones, and was convicted in that case.

Police General Commissioner Pablo Lotito described the organization as “very complex.” Although he said it was Uruguayan, he also said it had clear foreign links. Lotito warned that the alleged leader had links to Sebastián Marset and that authorities could not rule out continued ties.

Officials said the drugs originated in Peru. They estimated their value at about $3 million in Uruguay and $14 million in Europe, representing roughly 2 million doses. Authorities believe the cocaine was intended for export, while the pasta base may have been destined for domestic use, although Lotito said shipments of pasta base to Europe had also been detected. Police seized six vehicles, a firearm, nine mobile phones, a jet ski, 23 aviation-fuel drums, handheld radios and a digital video recorder.

He had links to Sebastián Marset, and it cannot be ruled out that he still does

· Pablo LotitoLotito discussed the alleged leader's possible continuing foreign connections.
About this summary

Originally published by El País in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

More Stories

From Our Blog