Argentine Police Break Up Drug Ring " Woman leader "

BUENOS AIRES – Argentine police broke up an international drug trafficking organization, seized 235 kilos of cocaine and arrested 27 people, including the Bolivian woman suspected of being the gang’s leader, officials said Tuesday.

Peruvian, Colombian and Dominican citizens were also arrested in the operation, Security Secretary Sergio Berni told reporters.

The arrests of five Bolivians, including the suspected gang leader, led to “30 searches in different places in the metro area of the federal capital, resulting in the seizure of 235 kilos of cocaine of maximum purity,” Berni said.

Investigators determined that “the Peruvians sold (the cocaine) wholesale, the Colombians sold it abroad and the Dominicans sold it at the retail level in Buenos Aires,” Berni said.

The investigation started following the arrest more than one year ago of a drug courier at Ezeiza airport who was headed to Spain.

The courier was carrying one kilo of cocaine in his body, Berni said.