With Biden’s envoy in town, Argentina steps up efforts to tackle against synthetic drugs

Argentina's foreign policy under Javier Milei’s Presidency continues on the path of alignment with the United States, both in discourse and practice. The most recent example was this week’s announcement of a project to set up a “regional intelligence centre” to combat synthetic drug-trafficking, a problem considered a “national security threat” by Washington due to its high mortality rate (around 100,000 deaths per year).

The project, which has Washington's approval, was announced by Security Minister Patricia Bullrich last Tuesday and confirmed by US President Joe Biden’s latest visitor to Argentina, Todd D. Robinson, a diplomat with experience in Latin America who serves as Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs.

“We appreciate Argentina's leadership and commitment to establish a regional synthetic drug intelligence and coordination centre. In our view it could be crucial and become a key node for the exchange of information on emerging synthetic threats,” Robinson said at a press conference.

The announcement after Robinson's meeting with half of Milei’s Cabinet on Tuesday, including the heads of the ministries of Justice (Mariano Cúneo Libarona), Health (Mario Lugones), Security (Patricia Bullrich), Foreign Affairs (Diana Mondino) and the Attorney General (Eduardo Casal). 

Also present were Candice Welsch, the regional representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) for the Andean region and the Southern Cone, and US Ambassador to Argentina Marc Stanley.

Questions

In a joint statement, the government said the high-level meeting was complemented by a workshop to train federal security officers, customs staff and narcotics agents in the “early detection of new psychoactive substances and the safe dismantling of illicit synthetic drug processing centres.”

However, the statement issued by the Foreign Ministry made no reference to the formal announcement of the project promoted by Bullrich's Ministry in the context of the US diplomat's visit. Details regarding the conditions, implications, structure or financing of the intelligence base and its installations were not detailed.

According to sources, the project is still in its initial phase and has no “architecture,” despite months of work by the Security Ministry, which has sought to position itself as a leader in the fight against drug-trafficking both locally and regionally. 

Perfil tried to contact Bullrich's entourage to find out the background to the matter but did not receive a reply.

Argentina’s proposal, considered “innovative” by Robinson, is part of the country's “active” participation in the Global Coalition to Address Synthetic Drug Threats, an initiative linked to the head of US diplomacy, Anthony Blinken.

“The Secretary of State offered this coalition and Argentina raised its hand. We appreciate their participation,” Robinson said on Tuesday (15 October), at the start of his trip to the Southern Cone, which also included activities in Uruguay.

Biden's latest envoy, however, did not provide details about the proposed intelligence centre and underlined that the the setting up of its structure depended on the initiative of the Argentine government and Bullrich’s portfolio.

However, Robinson did not rule out the possibility of providing both funding and technical training and agents from US intelligence agencies.

“We are pleased to be allocating additional funds to extend capacity development by 2026,” said the US official, adding: “The plan is to deepen this with countries, as is happening in Europe.”

“We are a good partner for Argentina. We want to help with the problem, not as a country that ‘knows everything’ but as one that years ago did not realise what was happening until it was too late,” Robinson explained.

The official thanked Argentina for its engagement on the issue, though he was unable to confirm that it was a country directly linked to the trafficking of synthetic drugs that end up on the streets of the United States.

“We value Argentina's leadership in the coalition, its commitment to establish a regional synthetic drug intelligence and coordination centre, which we believe could be crucial,” said Robinson.