The head of advisers to the governor of the province of Buenos Aires, Carlos Bianco, assured this Thursday that the situation due to the consumption of adulterated cocaine “is stabilized and controlled”, but warned that it could have been a greater tragedy if it had not been possible to detect and hijack more doses in different raids.
Regarding the statements of the former governor María Eugenia Vidal, who through Twitter assured that the deaths are “the result of an absent State, which looks the other way in the face of a problem that summons us all”, Bianco assured that “the opposition acts with political opportunism trying to take advantage.
“There is talk of hawks and pigeons, but they act like caracaras,” Bianco said during a news conference outside the Hurlingham municipal hospital.
This is the result of an absent State, which looks the other way in the face of a problem that brings us all together.
We have to understand that when we don’t fight drug traffickers we let drugs take our children.– Maria Eugenia Vidal (@mariuvidal) February 2, 2022
Together with Bianco, the Buenos Aires Minister of Health, Nicolás Kreplak, highlighted that the implementation of an emergency protocol “allowed to reverse the picture of people who “yesterday were on mechanical respiratory assistance and today are having lunch” by their own means.”
Although the minister stressed that “a protocol with an antidote was applied very quickly that saved many lives,” he reiterated that “the epidemiological alert continues because that substance can continue to circulate.”
For his part, the head of Provincial Security, Sergio Berni, reported that during Wednesday night and early Thursday “the leader of the gang was arrested, who had an arrest warrant since 2018 for his lieutenant and the cook of this gang ” that operated in the district of San Marín.
The officials detailed that it has not yet been possible to determine what the component is, but that it is known to be an opioid.
“When a drug is produced in a kitchen, it can produce any effect and a bad calculation in the way to cut and stretch the drug can generate these things,” said Berni.
Kicillof ratified the continuity of the epidemiological emergency
The governor of Buenos Aires, Axel Kicillof, confirmed the continuity of the epidemiological emergency declared in the province due to the consumption of adulterated cocaine that caused the death of 20 people and dozens of internees, after a virtual meeting with his cabinet that he held from Moscow, Russia, where he is part of the official delegation that accompanies President Alberto Fernández.
“New meeting of the emergency committee to continue monitoring the health, police and judicial situation of the poisoned cocaine case. The epidemiological emergency continues and all the areas involved maintain the deployment and coordinated work,” said the provincial president in his Twitter account, where he posted a photo of the electronic meeting he held with his government team.
“During the early hours of today, admissions and consultations with the health system were mostly mild cases that remained under observation and no consultation with the Provincial Toxicology Center was required. These cases referred to an altered state of consciousness, vomiting, dizziness and headache”, according to what was recorded from the Buenos Aires Executive through a statement.
New meeting of the emergency committee to continue monitoring the health, police and judicial situation in the case of the poisoned cocaine. The epidemiological emergency continues and all the areas involved maintain their deployment and coordinated work. pic.twitter.com/42CrgOUBHj
— Axel Kicillof (@Kicillofok) February 3, 2022
This Wednesday, the Ministry of Health of the province of Buenos Aires set up an Emergency Committee to “follow the evolution of cases in real time and in coordination with the toxicology services of the Buenos Aires network, which was operational throughout the morning.”
On the other hand, “the distribution of medicines for the proper treatment of patients was reinforced, two mobile intensive care units were added to the transfer system and an epidemiological alert was issued to all hospitals in Buenos Aires,” according to reports.
