Monday April 3, 2023 | 5:00 a.m.
Luis Enrique Ferreira (26) and Lucas Fabián Melo (21), presumed leaders of an organization dedicated to the commercialization of marijuana in Posadas from the Second Police Station, were transferred to the Penal Colony UP 17 of Candelaria, belonging to the Federal Penitentiary Service, where They will follow the process.
This was established by El Territorio based on different sources linked to the investigation. Until a few weeks ago, both were housed in the Ituzaingó Squad of the National Gendarmerie, where they relapsed once they were “arrested” at the police station.
As this medium timely reported, initially the possible destinations were in Chaco and Formosa. In detail, the options were the Roque Sáenz Peña Presidency Penal Colony, the Resistencia Penitentiary Unit 7 and the U10 Federal prison in the capital of Formosa.
Opportunely they had indicated from the federal force that the prison of the Old Capital was ruled out because quotas are not easily released. Also because they are generally housed interns ready to leave. However, this changed.
The Territory consulted if his transfer responded to a change in his procedural situation, but like the entire process, the case is being handled with great secrecy.
The investigation, which was coordinated by the authorities of the Court and the Posadas Federal Prosecutor’s Office, was carried out by the National Gendarmerie. In total, eleven people were arrested and another six were subject to the file on November 2 of last year, when the scandal came to light.
Among them is a first sergeant of the Misiones Police identified as Marcelo Sotelo. The person involved served in the unit and would be in direct connection with the two aforementioned drug traffickers, although they are also in the crosshairs of Justice who until that day were chief and second unit, Héctor Penzotti (42) and Claudio Rodríguez (42), respectively.
Among the raided points was the Second Police Station where Ferreira and Melo, who are brothers-in-law, were staying for different drug reasons. It is believed that they coordinated – Ferreira is the most committed – the sale of about 300 kilograms of marijuana per week in Posadas.
However, the offer included cocaine, pills and the house specialty, marijuana “churros”, which are nothing more than drug buds that are dried upside down and remain long. Everything included a packaging with a decal that read “los cangris”, like the duo formed by Nicky Jam and Daddy Yankee.
As this medium exclusively published based on sources of the investigation, Ferreira dominated everything that happened at the police station at will and flaunted it in the telephone calls they received from other prisons to their phones. He said that he was the owner of the place, that he was as he wanted and even invited to pass if they wished.
There he systematically received one of his soldiers at least once a week, always when Sotelo was on duty. This person generally went on Tuesdays to, it is believed, receive orders and render accounts. The follow-up on this actor led to the two main drug traffickers being reached.
It was reconstructed, the investigators said, that barbecues -which were made on the beach-, delivery of anything, alcoholic beverages and drugs were entered indiscriminately with the previous payment of the bribe, which was negotiated with the cash involved. The figures were established according to the size of the favor.
Particularly there was a “party Friday”, which meant that I was going to enter a tub of ice cream with a false bottom loaded mostly with cocaine.
However, the party was not only held behind bars. The investigations were able to confirm that the brothers-in-law went out -alone or together- nine times, although it is believed that they were more.
At Melo’s house, the force seized cocaine.
Everything is recorded through security cameras after the collaboration of the 911 line. Obviously they did not have judicial authorization to do so.
The reconstructed routine indicates that they left the police station where they were detained between 9 and 10 pm and returned around 4 in the morning. They would go out “for a party” along the Posadeña Costanera and tour the city with a trusted driver. Once they even had to look for Ferreira because he had too much to drink and didn’t come back.
For all this, some mentions -although not direct- in the listening and the analysis of the patrimony of the police chiefs, it seems impossible to think that they never found out what happened.
Logistics
Regarding logistics, what is known is that the central points were the house of the two detainees, Ferreira’s in Villa Cabello and Melo’s in the Laurel neighborhood, near Alem Avenue. This last point is a place known by consumers at night as “Lucas’ kiosk”, where the merchandise was divided and packaged.
It is a two-story house in the middle of construction work where more than 11 kilograms of marijuana and “remains” of cut buds and the plastic stamps that were put on the packages with the product were found.
The site, in the middle of a narrow street/corridor, contrasts with the buildings that surround it.
“How much do you have?”, “No, no, take everything out because this week more will come in,” were some orders that came out constantly from Ferreira’s phone. The man controlled the product that was marketed by his relatives and a network of dealers that ran through Posadas.
Infrastructure demand for detainees
As reported by El Territorio in its March 11 edition, around 140 detainees for federal crimes are housed in police stations and other provincial establishments. This represents a demand from the Government of Misiones, because it considers that the police stations are not suitable places for this profile of detainees and they see how the cells are overflowing in all the dependencies.
Not to mention that the Federal Justice also resorts to dependencies of the Gendarmerie or Prefecture to make up for the lack of infrastructure.
In the Candelaria prison, it is recommended to have a maximum of 196 inmates, but it has been exceeding 200, according to a population report corresponding to the first quarter of 2022 provided by the Institutional Violence Prosecutor’s Office (Procuvin) dependent on the Attorney General of the Nation.
Other data accessed by this morning shows that it reached 207 inmates, clearly exceeding the capacity for which this unit located on an area of 157 hectares in Candelaria was created.
