About 3,000 people live in
Aguas Blancas
(Orán Department, Salta).
Located on the border with Bolivia, from which it is separated by the Bermejo River, the city is a common passage for all types of smuggling, including drugs.
Even so, the news that the son of the chief of the city's Volunteer Firefighters (also a firefighter) was caught with no less than 314 kilos of cocaine – valued at
5 million dollars
– shook the local residents.
That he did it
using the detachment's ambulance
was an extra pain and the impunity with which he carried the 300 loaves of drugs (in 12 cardboard boxes without any effort to hide them) directly outraged people.
Nahuen Galarza (25) was detained at a checkpoint early last Friday and an accomplice who was in the ambulance fell with him.
What was just learned a few hours ago is that after Nahuen's fall, on the same Friday but at night, his father was arrested:
Fredi Galarza (57), number one in the barracks
and according to the investigation, who gave the orders.
Suspicions were already high and everything became complicated when the anti-narcotics dogs pointed out that a self-propelled truck from the Aguas Blancas barracks had also been used to transport narcotics.
The Aguas Blancas Fire Chief was arrested for finding more than 300 kilos of cocaine in a fire truck.
Thus, on Friday night, Galarza Sr. was arrested along with a man in charge of collaborating with logistics.
The investigation by the GOC (Joint Operational Group, which brings together the 4 federal forces) obtained a key piece of information: from March 2022 to January 2024, the Aguas Blancas fire truck
crossed Bolivia eight times
and no one believes it was I'll help with some fire.
Furthermore, one of the Galarzas' cars had no less than 37 crossings to the other side of the border.
With all this evidence, this Monday the federal judge of Oran Gustavo Montoya issued the preventive measure against Fredi Galarza, so there are now four men (two of them firefighters) involved so far.
Although the impunity with which these "transporters" moved suggests that they had some type of coverage and protection.
Shock in the Fire Department
After the scandal, the National Volunteer Firefighters System issued a statement in which it repudiated the transfer of the cocaine shipment in Aguas Blancas.
In addition, they announced that the head of that Salta barracks was suspended.
Fredi Galarza, the chief of the Aguas Blancas Volunteer Firefighters, Salta, arrested for transporting 300 kilos of cocaine in a firefighting force mobile.
"An unfortunate event occurred last night in the early morning hours where a truck belonging to the Aguas Blancas de Salta Volunteer Firefighters Association was found transporting drugs," the statement said.
And he adds: "The Salta Firefighters Federation reported that the suspension of availability was applied to the head of the barracks, which is now effective. It should be noted that said Federation, with the support of the Council of Volunteer Firefighters Federations of the Argentine Republic (CFBVRA), is taking all pertinent actions to remove those responsible and clarify the situation as soon as possible, leaving the way clear for justice to carry out the pertinent investigation."
"The CFBVRA called an urgent meeting where the presidents of the 28 Provincial Federations will meet together with directors of the National Firefighters Academy, the Single Coordination of Operations and the Firefighters Foundation of Argentina to address the issue and establish a line of action in around the fact"
"The National Volunteer Firefighters System fervently repudiates this terrible situation, remaining at the disposal of justice and with the hope that the actions of these individuals do not stain the work of the more than 58 thousand Volunteer Firefighters who put their lives at risk every day. to help their communities in any emergency.
MG