“Doña Ema”, the retired dealer of Villa Soldati: she was arrested with base paste and sentenced in 48 hours

Ema Aida Gigena, 64, retired, was arrested on Wednesday 16th of this month at her home on block 1 in the Fatima neighborhood of Villa Soldati, accused of mincing cocaine and crackers. Within 48 hours after her arrest, criminal and contraventional judge Agustín Pardini sentenced her to five years of effective imprisonment. It wasn't his first offense before the law: Gigena, who fell with a man in her family, already had a previous suspended sentence.

The case against her began in October 2021, led by prosecutor Cecilia Amil Martín, head of the UFEIDE of the Buenos Aires Public Prosecutor's Office. The prosecutor asked the Southern Area Anti-Drug Investigation Division to investigate the retiree. Thus, the fieldwork began. There were filming, follow-ups. Also, the prosecutor approved that an undercover policeman make three drug purchases at the kiosk. Thus, last week's raids were ordered.

There, with the help of anti-narcotics dogs, 99 wrappers with base paste were kidnapped, eleven with cocaine, a little marijuana, just under 12,000 pesos, as well as a telephone.

The drug searches in Buenos Aires settlements with convictions obtained in a few days before the evidence of the file and the material seized have been repeated in recent months. This week, the Buenos Aires force closed a new drug kiosk in Barrio 21-24: another 50 have already been closed in the last 15 months, according to data from the Buenos Aires Ministry of Justice and Security.

The investigation to close this dealer point occurred on February 26 when police officers were touring the area and observed a person who, upon seeing the uniformed, had a suspicious attitude and then escaped. The chase ended at the kiosk, located on strip 9 of the neighborhood, where 108 wrappers of base paste and 170 bags of cocaine were kidnapped.

Of the 51 places closed since 2020, 35 were in Barrio 31, 13 in the 21-24/Zavaleta conglomerate, one in Barrio Mugica and the remaining in Barrio 15.

“This is the unrestricted fight that we have been waging against drug trafficking by the Neighborhood Prevention Units, in this particular case it was a flagrante persecution, in which they manage to detect the person who was selling and wants to hide in this bunker with more than 100 doses of paco,” said the Minister of Justice and Security, Marcelo D'Alessandro.

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