Córdoba: fake medical certificates used to smuggle drugs and cell phones into Bouwer

Several individuals were charged with using fake medical certificates that indicated a pregnancy or a nonexistent illness to evade controls. With this maneuver, they managed to avoid the body scanner during visits to inmates at the Bouwer Prison Complex. The strategy allowed drugs, cell phones, and other prohibited items to enter the facility.

The investigation was assigned to the Judicial Unit for Economic Crimes following a complaint filed months ago by the Penitentiary Service. With judicial authorization, 139 raids were carried out in Córdoba capital and towns in the interior, as well as operations in Bouwer and at Facility No. 9. The procedures led to the seizure of phones, electronic devices, forged documentation, prescription pads, and up to two million pesos (4,409 pounds).

As part of the operations, two women were arrested as part of the scheme with which they sought to bring prohibited items into the prisons. The fake certificates referred to nonexistent pregnancies or oncological pathologies, which justified the exception to the scanners. The prosecution indicated that, for now, no doctors have been found to be involved in issuing the forged documents.

Investigation and procedures

During raids conducted outside the prisons, stamps, prescription pads, and forms unrelated to authorized professionals in Córdoba were seized. The Medical Council was tasked with verifying the authenticity of the licenses and confirming the origin of the forged documents. So far, no collusion by penitentiary staff has been found, although it is not ruled out that it may emerge as the case progresses.

Provincial authorities emphasized that the complaint originated within the Córdoba Penitentiary Service itself after detecting irregular entry attempts. The Secretary of Penitentiary Organization, Iván Ortega, highlighted that "this investigation was carried out by staff from the Penitentiary Service of our province of Córdoba." Ortega explained that "forged signatures, incongruent uses of stamps and letterheads" were detected in the seized documents.

According to the official, the file exceeds one thousand pages and was prepared entirely by SPC staff before being submitted to the courts. "We managed to make visible the alleged commercialization of these types of certificates by professionals who requested them," he detailed. With the evidence gathered, the complaint and the raids that resulted in the aforementioned arrests and seizures were carried out.