They prosecuted the owner of HLB Pharma for smuggling and links to deadly fentanyl.

Pharmaceutical businessman and Kirchnerist activist Ariel García Furfaro was indicted by the courts in a case involving aggravated smuggling and document forgery through his company HLB Pharma Group SA.

The ruling also included his mother, Nilda Furfaro, and his 90-year-old grandmother, Olga Luisa Arena, who were listed as alternate presidents of the company.

The case, which is being processed in Economic Criminal Court No. 2, presided over by Pablo Yadarola, is complemented by the parallel investigation of federal judge in La Plata, Ernesto Kreplak, regarding the production of adulterated fentanyl that allegedly caused the deaths of several patients.

According to the accusation, García Furfaro carried out transactions with China in which he declared false amounts to Customs. Through HLB Pharma and Alpharma, he imported machinery for the production of medicines for a declared value of USD 5 million, when the actual amount was USD 500,000. For investigators, this was a scheme of "over-invoicing of imports and commercial transactions with China for which he declared a false amount to Customs".

The businessman justified the participation of his mother and grandmother on the board of HLB Pharma by stating that "he was going through a complicated divorce and didn't have trustworthy people to appoint". The courts, however, determined that both assumed formal positions without having participated in management. The case file notes that, at the time batch 31202 of fentanyl was produced—on December 18, 2024—,  the company's president was Arena, who "never made any decisions nor was she seen at her grandson's pharmaceutical manufacturing plant".

Customs also reported that García Furfaro submitted forged documentation, in a scheme that included the use of various companies, among them HLB Pharma Group SA, Alpharma, and ALFARMA S.R.L. The case also involves Walter Norberto Allocco, Guillermo Enrique Gallo, and the company CIMA Industries Inc. All were indicted with asset seizures and a ban on leaving the country.

The indictment included a seizure of $25,000,000 on the García Furfaro family. Nevertheless, attorney Sebastián Nanini was favored in the case, who on March 28, 2025, had acquired 100% of HLB Pharma's shares and was listed in the General Inspectorate of Justice as president.

After the scandal, he executed the indemnity clause for six months and withdrew from the transaction. Despite this, García Furfaro never appointed a new board of directors, so Nanini continues to appear in official records as the company's president.

Meanwhile, the investigation into the adulterated fentanyl is progressing in Kreplak's court. The judge received the report on the first 20 medical records of deceased patients, prepared by the Forensic Medical Corps. In at least 12 of those cases, a worsening of the clinical condition was confirmed after the administration of the medication contaminated with bacteria.

The case has already been referred to the National Chamber of Economic Criminal Appeals, while a decision is expected in the coming hours from Judge Kreplak regarding the legal status of the García Furfaro clan.