Overview
- Judge Aurelio Cuello Murúa in Rafaela approved plea deals that gave Bolivian nationals Sirilo Quispe Carmona and Abel Rocha Risco four‑year prison terms for cocaine transport.
- Rocha Risco was declared a repeat offender based on a prior April 2025 conviction in Brazil for the same body‑packing method.
- The judge denied a defense bid for immediate expulsion to Bolivia, agreeing with prosecutors Jorge Gustavo Onel and Federico Grimm that deportation belongs to the execution stage and that serving time in Argentina serves the public interest.
- The case began on December 2, 2025, when a Gendarmerie dog flagged a long‑distance bus in Ceres, X‑rays confirmed ingested capsules, and the pair expelled 185 pellets holding about 2.45 kilos of cocaine at roughly 85% purity, a quantity prosecutors said could yield about 20,000 doses.
- In a separate Tucumán stop, Escuadrón 71 'Aguilares' used a detector dog and a mobile scanner to uncover 20 packages with 21.16 kilos of cocaine hidden in a Renault Clio, detained two brothers with recent Argentina–Bolivia crossings, and placed the case before Federal Court No. 1 of Tucumán.