The State Intelligence Secretariat (SIDE) confirmed its participation in the operation that ended with the capture of Andrés “Plin” Acosta, one of the ten most wanted fugitives in Santa Fe and identified as a member of a criminal structure linked to "Los Menores".
The arrest took place this Monday past 7:30 in the morning, when Acosta was leaving the Museum nightclub, located at the intersection of Peru and Venezuela, in the City of Buenos Aires. The suspect was located based on operational intelligence provided by the SIDE, in coordination with the CIOPE of Santa Fe and the Argentine Federal Police.
Andrés "Plin" Acosta
According to the official report from the agency, the gathered information allowed for the identification of the accused and the advancement of his capture, as part of an investigation linked to organized crime in Rosario. The operation was executed by PFA officers along with Santa Fe agents, who subdued the suspect in public after he attempted to resist arrest.
Acosta was wanted at the request of the Regional Prosecutor's Office of Rosario and had an arrest warrant in a case for illicit association. The investigation links him to attacks against educational institutions and a police station, amid territorial disputes between criminal organizations operating in the province of Santa Fe.
The detainee is also noted for his alleged connection to the barra brava of Rosario Central and to a criminal organization associated with Los Menores, the gang that gained power in the canalla stands after the double homicide of Andrés “Pillín” Bracamonte and Daniel “Rana” Attardo, which occurred in November 2024.
Additionally, Acosta is believed to be linked to the structure led by Francisco Riquelme, a prisoner identified as the head of a drug trafficking network with influence in the northwest of Rosario. His last registered address was in Empalme Graneros, an area where that organization consolidated territorial presence despite its leader being detained.
Francisco Riquelme, sentenced to life imprisonment
The Government of Santa Fe had included him in the list of the ten most wanted fugitives and offered a reward of $25 million for information that would lead to his whereabouts. His name gained relevance during the investigation known as Operation M4, following a procedure in which war weapons were seized.
In a previous raid conducted at a residence attributed to Acosta, the forces had found three Colt M4 rifles and a 9-millimeter Glock pistol. In that operation, more than $14 million, projectiles of various calibers, cell phones, computers, vehicles, and a machine for counting bills were also seized.
The weapons seized at Acosta's home
The SIDE emphasized that transnational organized crime and its local expression in gangs like Los Menores constitute a priority threat to the National Intelligence System. The capture of Acosta marks a new advance in the coordination between intelligence and federal forces to strike at narco structures that have grown in Rosario for years under the permissive gaze of the State.
