BUENOS AIRES ( 2 tons of cocaine headed for Mexico seized )

BUENOS AIRES – The Argentine government seized 2,000 kilos (4,405 lbs.) of liquid cocaine bound for Mexico, and arrested eight suspected members of a “narcocriminal gang,” officials said Friday.

Authorities valued the drug consignment at $40 million.

Of the eight under arrest, three had been members of the Argentine Federal Police – one superintendent and two sergeants – Security Secretary Sergio Berni told a press conference.

The investigation leading up to the police operation began in 2012, but the raid was not ordered until two weeks ago when there was “complete certainty that those transformers (where the cocaine was hidden) were ready for shipment,” Berni said.

Also confiscated in the crackdown on drug trafficking were arms, money and “electronic items,” the secretary said