Adulterated cocaine kills 17, sickens 56 in Argentina

Apparently adulterated cocaine has killed 17 people and seriously sickened 56 others in Buenos Aires, sending Argentine authorities on a frantic search for the remainder of the deadly batch before it is consumed

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina -- Apparently adulterated cocaine killed 17 people and seriously sickened 56 others in Buenos Aires, sending Argentine authorities on a frantic search Wednesday for the remainder of the deadly batch to get it off the streets before it is consumed.

Experts were still analyzing the drug to determine what was in it that caused the deaths. Judicial officials said the main hypothesis being considered was that the cocaine was intentionally adulterated as part of a settling of scores between traffickers.

Police said that the cocaine was sold in the poor neighborhood “Puerta 8” in San Martín — a suburb to the north of Argentina’s capital — and that a dozen people had been arrested.

“This event is absolutely exceptional. We have no precedent,” San Martin Attorney General Marcelo Lapargo told cable channel Todo Noticias. “If the situation has escalated and the nature of trafficking has changed to the point where this becomes commonplace, I hope I never see it again.”