Narco group caught loading half a ton of cocaine onto a ship on the Paraná River

Argentine naval authorities apprehended four men during a midnight operation on the Paraná River, thwarting an attempt to load nearly half a ton of cocaine onto a cargo ship. The incident occurred near San Nicolás, where the suspects were using a speedboat to transfer the drugs onto a bulk carrier. This method, known as "contamination" in drug trafficking circles, allows organizations to introduce narcotics into export routes without them being registered during port operations. Prefectura Naval Argentina had been monitoring the organization for over seven months. During a covert surveillance operation last Saturday, officers observed a truck and later a speedboat, named Gran Brack, approaching the shore. Three individuals on the speedboat began loading packages from the truck, later joined by a fourth person on the river. The speedboat then proceeded towards a docked bulk carrier. Using drones, river units, and shore observers, authorities tracked the speedboat as the four men attempted to hoist the bags onto the vessel. The Prefectura intervened just as the loading process began. The operation resulted in the seizure of 497 kilograms of cocaine, packaged in 210 blocks. Notably, the cocaine bore a "777" embossed seal and was wrapped in material featuring images from Thor Heyerdahl's Kon-Tiki expedition. These markings serve as commercial logos, identifying the cargo owner and batch for overseas recipients. The arrested individuals were identified as Antonio Gustavo Straccia, Jorge Eduardo Ayala, Jorge Alberto Miño, and Damián Andrés Leyria. Leyria was under a judicial order prohibiting him from leaving the country. Authorities also seized the Gran Brack speedboat, a trailer, a Ford Ranger truck, five cell phones, a GPS device, and seven waterproof bags. The four men were held incommunicado.