Overview

• Federal judge Ernesto Kreplak processed 14 defendants and ordered preventive detention for HLB Pharma owner Ariel García Furfaro on charges of intentional adulteration of medicinal substances with fatal results, a crime carrying potential sentences of up to 25 years.
• Seized recordings from May 17–18 show directives to destroy ampoules, disable cameras and purge servers, while testimony describes forced completion and backdating of batch records tied to the fentanyl lot under scrutiny.
• The court file now counts 124 deaths under investigation across provinces: 54 in Buenos Aires, 1 in the City of Buenos Aires, 50 in Santa Fe, 7 in Córdoba and 3 in Formosa.
• Investigators trace the implicated lot 31202 to production on December 18, 2024 and market release on January 5, 2025, with the first recorded death on April 14 as forensic and genomic analyses continue to firm up causal links.
• The ruling imposes large asset embargos on executives and has intensified oversight pressures, with lawmakers faulting ANMAT’s controls and a congressional commission preparing to seek detailed reports from regulators.