Argentine Cabinet Chief 'Tied To İllegal Drug Trade'

Argentina's Cabinet chief denied a media report that named him as the mastermind of at least three murders and also of being involved in the narcotics trade.



Interviews during the investigative journalism program Periodismo Para Todos, or Journalism for Everybody, linked Anibal Fernandez with the trade of ephedrine, a chemical precursor used to manufacture synthetic drugs such as methamphetamine; and the murder of three pharmaceutical businessmen in 2008.



Martin Lanatta, who is serving life in prison for his involvement in the crime, said in an interview that aird Sunday night that Fernandez was the "ideological author" of the murder of the men, whose bodies were found in a roadside ditch on the outskirts of Buenos Aires.



"The ephedrine trafficking business wound up totally in the hands of Anibal Fernandez with intelligence agents," Lanatta said.



At the time of the killings, Fernandez was justice minister and his right-hand man, an intelligence agent, was the person on the ground for trafficking the ephedrine, Lanatta said.



"The one who gave the order of death was Anibal," Lanatta said.



A business partner of one of the murdered executives also mentioned Fernandez's involvement in the drug trade along with another businessman, who has since fled Argentina and is wanted for selling ephedrine to Mexican drug cartels.



"They killed and put in prison people who have nothing to do [with the crime] to cover up this corruption," said Jose Luis Salerno.



Fernandez strongly refuted the allegations.



"It is 100 percent a lie," he said during a televised press conference Monday.



Fernandez said the claims are part of a smear campaign in the run-up to the Aug. 9 primary elections for governor of Buenos Aires, the country's largest and most populous province. Fernandez is running against congressman Julian Dominguez to represent the ruling Front for Victory party in the election later this year.



The Cabinet chief said he intends to file a lawsuit against the TV broadcaster and others involved in the program for reporting what he called "a load of bullshit."



Of the interviewees on the program, he said, "I do not know any of the people, I have not had dealings with them, I have not seen them, I have not spoken to them in any way personally or by telephone or by text message, never."



Opposition politicians demanded an investigation into the allegations.



"This is very serious," Buenos Aires Mayor Mauricio Macri, who is running for president, said on America TV. "I hope the justice system acts quickly."



Felipe Sola, another opposition politician running for governor of Buenos Aires province, said he has seen many unfounded accusations over the years.



"But this time I think it is coherent," he said on Radio Mitre. - Arjantin