Patricia Bullrich says crackdown on drug gangs is succeeding
Cocaine exports to Europe have actually been obstructed, she says
Murders in Rosario center most affordable in a minimum of a years
By Lucinda Elliott
BUENOS AIRES, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Patricia Bullrich, Argentina's security minister, is on an objective to stamp out drug gangs in the South American country that have driven rising violence and caused a spike in cocaine deliveries to Europe. She states she is being successful.
Argentina has grown in importance as a transit center for cocaine as production from Peru and Bolivia has flowed down key waterways and out through river ports such as that of Rosario, Lionel Messi's home town. Gang-related murders increased in tandem.
Bullrich, in an unusual interview with international media, informed Reuters the year-old federal government of libertarian President Javier Milei was separating the gangs and obstructing shipments from making their method to end markets, consisting of to Europe, where the cocaine market has broadened over the last few years.
"We've had record cocaine seizures and that's produced fantastic respect for us regionally and likewise in Europe, because (in 2024) no shipment from Argentina was detected in Europe," she said at her workplace in Buenos Aires, adding that "of course there might be some shipments that were undiscovered."
The security ministry confirmed that cocaine was not found in any shipments that crossed the South Atlantic from Argentina to a major European port in 2024. Reuters was unable to separately validate that.
Once a competitor to Milei as the presidential candidate for the main conservative bloc, Bullrich is now leading the crackdown on criminal activity, tightening up with Brazil and Bolivia, privatizing some jails and utilizing expert system to track gangs.
In Rosario, according to local government figures, murders dropped to 90 last year - the most affordable in at least the last decade and [mariskamast.net](http://mariskamast.net:/smf/index.php?action=profile
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Argentina Gang Crackdown has Dried Up Cocaine Exports, Security
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