The alleged smuggling of live cattle from Formosa through the dry bed of the Pilcomayo River to Paraguay, without complying with the payment of export duties or using the required exchange rate, is the subject of an investigation by the federal judge of Formosa Pablo Fernando Morán, as confirmed by the magistrate to Infobae.
Investigations are being followed in the cases with the intervention of the Provincial and Federal Police. There are already accused of “smuggling of standing merchandise”, among which are commission agents and hacienda transporters.
“In Formosa we have a large border with Paraguay of almost 800 kilometers, a good part of it is fluvial and today due to the drought many points of the Pilcomayo River left a dry border that allows us to cross farms on foot, since it is quite easy for those who they intend to smuggle animals and herd them across said border,” Morán explained.
“This happens with animals from Argentina that go to Paraguay. Mindful of the great difference that the exchange rate exhibits from the different types of values for the dollar that exist in Argentina, the agricultural producer receives a low official value, from which withholdings are subtracted, and a interesting difference in selling the animal directly for cash on Paraguayan land, where it is paid in dollars and in cash,” said the judge.
As was also noticed from the grain market, similar events have also been detected in illegal shipments of cereals that are made from Argentina to countries like Bolivia, with the corresponding tax avoidance and evasion and with an improvement in the difference that it provides the value of the official exchange rate with respect to the cash payment they receive beyond the border, without complying with the required legal steps.
The ongoing investigation has the support of the Federal Police and members of the Specialized Unit for Rural Affairs of the Police of the province of Formosa, who are the ones who -together with SENASA personnel- are in charge of carrying out the controls of the cage trucks and the transport of merchandise in general that transits through the national and provincial routes of the district.
modus operandi
As Judge Morán admitted, the severe drought that afflicts this region and a large part of Argentina at this time of year makes the border with Paraguay “quite permeable” for the “illegal” transfer of animals and animals to be promoted. even grains from one side of the border to the other.
The reverse also happens, a fact that is being investigated, is the shipment from Paraguay of tires that do not have the respective approval of the Argentine INTI and that enter the illegal market for sale.
In the specific case of cattle, many producers in the Formosa area and even Chaco or Corrientes, in good faith sell animals for wintering in Argentine fields and end up being slaughtered in Paraguayan refrigerators, and then sold in neighboring gondolas or butcher shops. country. Thus, the magistrate stated that cases of steers were detected that without the completion referred to in the documentation for their transportation, have their final destination on the other side of the border.
