Tainted Cocaine Kills 17, While Around 50 Left in Hospitals in Buenos Aires
Relatives of people hospitalized after consuming cocaine cut with a toxic substance are seeen at San Bernardino Hospital in Hurlingham, Buenos Aires province, on February 2, 2022. - At least 17 people died and 56 more were hospitalized in a northwestern suburb of Buenos Aires after consuming cocaine cut with a toxic substance, possibly opioids, authorities said Wednesday. EMILIANO LASALVIA/AFP via Getty Images

Tainted cocaine has killed 17 people, while 50 more were left in hospitals around Buenos Aires, Argentina.

The authorities noted that investigators believed that the illegal narcotic was either laced with some kind of poison or cut with another substance, according to a TRT World News report.

Four of the victims were identified by the police as Herman Castro, 45; Martin Lopez, 36; Dino Melgarejo, 33; and Fernando Yacante. Yacante's age was not revealed.

Sergio Berni, the security minister for Buenos Aires province, said that every dealer that buys cocaine cuts it, with some doing it with non-toxic substances such as starch.

However, others are putting hallucinogens, and if there is no form of control, Berni noted that those things pass, according to a BBC News report.

TRT World reported that investigators fear the poll could rise, with some people buying the cocaine unable to reach a care center in time.

The San Martin public prosecutor, Marcelo Lapargo, described the case as "absolutely exceptional."

Tainted Cocaine Source in Argentina

One user reportedly told police that they had purchased the cocaine off an individual in the Puerta 8 shantytown in Tres de Febrero. Raids were launched after that.

Provincial security forces apprehended some people that were suspected of selling the drug after the first series of deaths happened on Wednesday, according to a The Guardian report.

Some local media outlets reported that the cocaine had been laced with a toxic substance, which was likely done by a drug gang that is seeking to cut costs amid turf war with rival drug gangs.

Berni said that they are waiting for the laboratory results and results of the investigation into the people who have been arrested.

The local government of Tres de Febrero urged the public not to use what they have bought while being aware of the possible symptoms such as confusion, convulsions, and loss of consciousness.

Berni noted that there is a key ingredient that seems to be attacking the central nervous system.

Joseph Palmar, Associate Professor and Drug Researcher at the New York University School of Medicine, tweeted that tainted cocaine seems to be a problem that is spreading.

Drug Distribution in Argentina

In August 2021, Argentinian police confiscated drugs in separate operations conducted in locations that were well-known for drug distribution.

A police raid in the northeastern province of Misiones resulted in the confiscation of more than 120 kilos of cannabis, according to an Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project News report.

In another Argentine National Gendarmerie operation, raids across Salta and Buenos Aires caused the seizure of 21 kilos of cocaine, with three suspects taken into custody.

Search warrants were released for areas of interest in Salta and Buenos Aires. Officials found drugs packed in rectangular containers and hidden in a false bottom.

Police also seized weapons, vehicles, communication, and storage devices believed to have been used by the cartel.

Salta has been the key entry point for cocaine into Argentina, with it being near the land border with Bolivia.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: Warning about fentanyl laced cocaine after rash of overdoses - from Eyewitness News ABC7NY