Argentina gang crackdown has dried up cocaine exports, security minister says

BUENOS AIRES, Feb 7 (Reuters) – Patricia Bullrich, Argentina’s security minister, is on a mission to stamp out drug gangs in the South American nation that have driven rising violence and led to a spike in cocaine shipments to Europe. She says she is succeeding.

Argentina has grown in importance as a transit hub for cocaine as production from Peru and Bolivia has flowed down key waterways and out through river ports such as that of Rosario, Lionel Messi’s hometown. Gang-related murders increased in tandem.