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Five Charged and Held in Salta After 364 Kilos of Cocaine Found in Crashed Plane

Prosecutors outline a cross-border operation using a Bolivian-registered aircraft, with a six-month investigation now under way.

Overview

  • Judge Mariela Giménez formalized the charges and ordered six months of preventive detention, authorizing technical examinations requested by prosecutors.
  • The accused include Bolivian pilots Juan Pablo Quinteros Peredo and Henry Álvaro Mercado Cuajera as coauthors, and locals Julián Darío Mansilla, Jonathan Alejandro Gómez and Jorge Alberto Cuellar as necessary participants.
  • Authorities seized 136 kilos inside the wrecked aircraft and uncovered another 228 kilos buried about 70 kilometers from the crash site, for a total of 364 kilos.
  • The pilots were arrested at the Rosario de la Frontera bus terminal after attempting to pay for an energy drink with U.S. dollars, which prompted a police alert.
  • Investigators say about 100 kilos of cocaine may still be unaccounted for as Gendarmería, Airport Security Police and provincial units continue the probe.