MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Plot to kill Argentine security minister and two federal justice officials in Punta del Este

The plan would have use Uruguayan hitmen for about US$40,000

Argentine authorities are investigating an alleged plot to kill Entre Ríos’ Security and Justice Minister Néstor Roncaglia and two federal justice officials — Judge Leandro Ríos and prosecutor José Ignacio Candiotti — in attacks that case files described as planned for Punta del Este, using Uruguayan hitmen for about US$40,000.

According to Argentine and Uruguayan media accounts, the operation was allegedly coordinated from inside an Entre Ríos prison and aimed primarily at influencing or derailing a looming drug-trafficking trial scheduled to begin on Tuesday, Feb. 24, in Paraná, against Leonardo Roberto Airaldi — nicknamed the “Gaucho narco” — and other defendants. Courts kept the hearing date and ordered strengthened protection for the potential targets.

Raid on one of the wings of Penal Unit No. 9 in Gualeguaychú. Photo: Entre Ríos Prison Service

The investigation was triggered by testimony from an inmate acting as an informant, leading to urgent searches at Penal Unit No. 9. Authorities seized mobile phones, notes, documents and narcotics, which were incorporated into the evidence record.

Reports said the plan envisaged ambushing Ríos and Candiotti in Uruguay, while an attack on Roncaglia was discussed for Argentine territory. A witness cited a line attributed to Airaldi — “Hiring hitmen from Uruguay costs me next to nothing” — and described alleged operational details, including the use of two vehicles and lime to remove traces.

In Uruguay, the Interior Ministry said it contacted Argentine authorities via Interpol after the case emerged, while adding that it had, so far, no confirmation of local operational activity linked to the plot or identified individuals in the country.

The alleged plot prompted statements from Argentine judges’ and prosecutors’ associations, which described threats and attacks against justice operators as extremely serious and warned of consequences for judicial independence and institutional stability, amid broader regional concerns over violence targeting public officials.