Pablo 'Bebote' Álvarez, the historic leader of Independiente's barra brava football hooligan gang, was detained in Buenos Aires on Friday as part of a probe into an international gang accused of smuggling ecstasy into Argentina from Spain.
National Security Minister Alejandra Monteoliva said in a post on X Álvarez is accused of belonging to a "narco-criminal organisation" trafficking drugs from Europe.
A a second Independiente barra member was also arrested.
Álvarez was captured at the property where he was living under house arrest with an electronic ankle tag, a measure linked to an earlier case stemming from a turf war between rival factions of Independiente's barra for control of the terraces.
"Full time for Bebote," Monteoliva wrote on X on Friday, in a post accusing Álvarez of "belonging to a narco-criminal organisation that trafficked designer drugs from Spain."
National Security Secretary Martín Ferlauto told the LN+ television that the case began in June with the discovery at Ezeiza International Airport in Buenos Aires of "12 litres of liquid ecstasy hidden in tins of olive oil" arriving from Barcelona.
That quantity of pure liquid ecstasy, or MDMA, could be used to produce thousands of pills of the drug.
The discovery triggered a judicial investigation that, in its first stage, led to 27 raids in Buenos Aires and the northern province of Salta, in which 11 people were arrested and further narcotics and evidence relevant to the inquiry were seized.
On Friday, five further raids were carried out, in which Álvarez and another Independiente barra member identified as Raúl 'Bruja' Manzone were arrested.
Both men "would also be involved in operations to import very large quantities of cocaine from Bolivia," Ferlauto said, referring to the ongoing investigation.
– TIMES/AFP
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