Eight Members of the Drug Gang of “El Peruano” Rodríguez Granthon were sentenced.
The case arose from an investigation into several shootings targeting the Cabaña family. According to the case file, the victims owed thousands of dollars to the leader of the criminal organization.
Eight people were sentenced to between three and six years in prison after being found guilty of being part of the drug trafficking network led by Julio Andrés “El Peruano” Rodríguez Granthon , a former pilot known for trafficking cocaine. In addition to family members, a prisoner held in the Piñero prison in Santa Fe was also sentenced .
After the defendants decided not to face oral proceedings and opted for a plea bargain, Judge Mariano Aliau handed down the corresponding sentences for the crime of criminal association . However, the number of years would vary among them, due to the responsibility each would have had in ensuring the drug gang continued to operate in Rosario .
The hearing was also attended by prosecutor Pablo Socca , who was in charge of the case initiated at the end of 2022, and the defendants’ defense attorneys, who are also expected to face other criminal cases related to drug dealing and territorial violence.
According to information published by Rosario3, the criminal association case arose from suspicions that Rodríguez Granthon continued to direct illicit activities despite being held in the Ezeiza federal prison . An investigation determined that the drug lord maintained contact with the outside world, even after being transferred from the Piñero prison as a preventative measure following a mass escape in 2021.
By then, “El Peruano” already had two federal convictions, having been found guilty of supplying cocaine to local drug gangs. He also had other cases linked to the murder of former councilman Eduardo Trasante and the “Cuevas Blancas” case, which involved violent clashes between money laundering groups and financiers in downtown Rosario.
However, the eight individuals convicted of being part of the drug gang appeared on investigators’ radar in late 2022, when Rodríguez Granthon was identified as the alleged instigator of several shootings in Rosario, specifically in the attacks that targeted the homes located on Doctor Riva and Espinosa streets in January of that year.
Authorities established a connection between the accused and the drug lord because the properties attacked belonged to a family named Cabaña, who owed a significant sum of money to “El Peruano.” The debt was around $150,000, so it is believed they attempted to intimidate them into making payment.
Based on this suspicion, the investigation uncovered a link between Rodríguez Granthon and Brian Emanuel Villalba , known as “Negro” Villalba, with whom he communicated from the Ezeiza prison. The latter was also an inmate housed in Piñero Ward 9 for having previously been convicted of homicide.
Villalba had been implicated as an instigator in other violent incidents allegedly organized by the former Peruvian pilot, so he confessed to his role as the gang’s chief hitman. He was sentenced to six and a half years, which would be added to his total sentence of 25 years.
On the other hand, Alexis Alan Coronel was sentenced to 6 years for accepting to have fulfilled the role of soldier during the attack against the Cabaña family, Marcos Nicolás De la Fuente , or “Nico Bronca”, received a unified sentence of 4 and a half years for having participated as one of the armed wings of the criminal group.
In the case of Luis “Nano” Lallana , he was identified as another of the gang’s thugs. For this reason, the court sentenced him to three years in prison. Likewise, Noel Ramos , Rodríguez Granthon’s brother-in-law, was sentenced to three years and six months for being the person in charge of transporting the money.
Silvina Gauna , meanwhile, was sentenced to three years and one month for being involved in drug trafficking, although she will have to serve a total of nine years and eight months due to a prior federal sentence. The defendant had been arrested two years ago in the Las Flores neighborhood and is believed to be the mother of Gabriel “Gury” Caminos, another of the defendants accused of being part of the gang.
Pablo Javier “Pali” Pascua was accused of having prison ties with Rodríguez Granthon, and the Rosario drug trafficker was sentenced to three years and six months for being part of the group. However, he will serve a total of eight years for another drug trafficking charge, along with an additional 14-year sentence for kidnapping for ransom.
Finally, Jorge Daniel “Jorgito” Pérez agreed to an eight-year sentence for being a member of “El Peruano”‘s gang and participating in the shootings. However, he will face a harsher trial for the double femicide of Carla Elisabet Cabaña and Magalí Georgina Paiz , who were murdered in a shootout that occurred in September 2022 in a Nuevo Alberdi settlement.
