The Undersecretary of Intelligence stated that the arrest demonstrates the new role of the National Intelligence System
According to the official statement, the SIDE provided operational intelligence that allowed for locating the suspect, who was arrested shortly after 7:30 in the morning in the Buenos Aires neighborhood of San Telmo. The operation was carried out in coordination with the CIOPE of Santa Fe and the Argentine Federal Police.
Acosta was on the official list of the ten most wanted fugitives in the province of Santa Fe and had an arrest warrant for illicit association, in a case linked to attacks on educational institutions and a police station.
Additionally, the suspect is linked to Los Menores, a narcocriminal organization with a strong presence in Rosario, and to the fan group of Rosario Central. In a previous raid at his home, the forces had seized three Colt M4 assault rifles and a 9-millimeter Glock pistol.
The SIDE stated that transnational organized crime and its local expressions, such as Los Menores, constitute one of the priority threats that the National Intelligence System monitors permanently.
Lago Rodríguez's public intervention marks a clear difference from previous years of state neglect in the face of the advance of drug trafficking in the country. The official's message sought to make it clear that, with real intelligence and coordination among forces, drug trafficking is beginning to find its limits.
The Undersecretary of Intelligence, José Lago Rodríguez, highlighted this Sunday the role of the State Intelligence Secretariat in the capture of Andrés “Plin” Acosta, one of the most wanted drug traffickers in Santa Fe and identified as a senior member of the organization Los Menores.
Through his social media, the official emphasized that Acosta's arrest was a concrete demonstration of the new functioning of the National Intelligence System in the face of the advance of organized crime.
“The arrest of ‘Plin’ Acosta, a senior member of the narcoterrorist gang ‘Los Menores’, is a concrete example of what the National Intelligence System can do when it works,” Lago Rodríguez stated while sharing the official statement from the SIDE regarding the operation.
The undersecretary also maintained that coordination between intelligence, federal forces, and provincial agencies is the way to confront these criminal structures. In this regard, he asserted that the collaboration between the SIDE, federal forces, and local agencies “is the only way to combat them.”
Lago Rodríguez's post reinforced the institutional message disseminated by the SIDE, which reported its participation in the operation that culminated in Acosta's capture outside a nightclub in the City of Buenos Aires.
