A family drug operation exposed by a child's message
M.C.P., a 43-year-old woman, was sentenced to four and a half years in prison by Córdoba's Justice for selling drugs from her own home in the city. The case was not a routine narcomenudeo prosecution: investigators found that she exploited her 12-year-old daughter to traffic narcotics. The girl not only sold doses at a kiosk installed in the family house but also took part in cutting and packaging the drugs. A WhatsApp message the minor sent to her mother became a key piece of evidence, showing the openness with which the operation ran. The message asked whether to leave the little bags cut or arrange them on the table.[S1][S2]
The drug kiosk operated next to a kindergarten in the IPV Argüello neighborhood, in the northwest of Córdoba. According to the investigation, the girl had learned to sell cocaine portions known as pelpas or ravioles and marijuana cigarettes at any hour to anyone who approached with money. That daily, unconcealed dynamic prompted neighbors to file the anonymous complaints that eventually uncovered the family drug circuit. Police commissioners described the mother as a narco referent in the area for years, as recorded in the case file.[S1][S2]
Investigation, raid, and the mother's confession
After receiving tips, the Fuerza Policial Antinarcotráfico (FPA) carried out inquiries in the neighborhood, including testimony and recordings, which confirmed the accusations. With a judicial order, raids were conducted in February 2024: the girl's mother was arrested on the spot, while her brother managed to escape. During the operation, numerous doses already prepared for sale were seized. The case was heard in an abbreviated trial, where the woman accepted the charges. Judge Gustavo Ispani of the Cámara 3ª del Crimen de Córdoba sentenced her for commercialization of narcotics aggravated by using a person under 18. The court granted her house arrest because she has children in her care.[S1][S2]
In her statement to the prosecution, the woman said she had two children and was separated, that the house where the kiosk operated belonged to her retired father, and that she received the Asignación Universal por Hijo. She explained that for years she tried to survive by selling food, but the money was not enough, so she decided to sell drugs. She also said she had suffered gender violence from her former partner, whom she reported and who, according to her, is in prison. At the final hearing, before learning the sentence, she addressed the judge again, saying she was remorseful and asking for forgiveness because her children needed her. The defense had requested four and a half years, while prosecutor Marcelo Hidalgo had sought six years. The court imposed four and a half years after weighing her confession, apology, and the fact that she has two children in her charge.[S1][S2]
The uncle's separate trial and what comes next
The case in the Cámara 3ª did not end with M.C.P.'s conviction. A brother of the woman and uncle of the minor, identified as D. E. P., 47, did not accept the proposal of an abbreviated trial and will be tried in a common process, where he could receive a longer sentence. According to the case, this man is accused of supplying the drugs to his sister for sale at her home. He evaded justice for months after the February 2024 raids. Finally, in November 2025, he was captured in the Autódromo neighborhood of Córdoba after a police chase, after ignoring a checkpoint and accelerating his vehicle. When his identity was verified, it was confirmed that he had an active arrest warrant. The accused has already begun to be tried in the Cámara 3ª del Crimen de Córdoba.[S1][S2]
