Uruguayan Man Held in Italy Over 128 Kilos of Cocaine
CRIME · URUGUAY
Key Facts
- —The country Uruguay, a small and stable South American democracy of about 3.4 million people, whose name keeps surfacing in cocaine cases bound for Europe.
- —Why it matters An Italian judge describes the Uruguayan suspect as the trusted man of South American traffickers, sent to watch over a load worth about US$78 million.
- —Why now His statement to the judge reached Uruguayan media on Saturday 10 October, a day after the court in Genoa kept all four suspects in jail.
- —What happened On Tuesday 6 October, Italy’s Guardia di Finanza caught four men taking 119 blocks of cocaine, about 128 kilos, from a container at Genoa’s Pra’ port.
- —The numbers Retail value about €70 million (about US$78 million), per the Guardia di Finanza. The Uruguayan says he was promised US$10,000 and never paid.
- —What it means for you No risk to travellers. For shippers and investors, it is another sign that South American fruit cargo is a favoured cover for cocaine.
- —Still open Who sent him, where the cocaine was loaded, and whether a link to a Uruguayan trafficker killed in Buenos Aires holds up.
A 32-year-old Uruguayan is in jail in Italy after police found 128 kilos of cocaine in Genoa, hidden in a refrigerated container at the port of Pra’. He told a judge he was sent from South America to make sure the load was collected. The case matters beyond Italy because it shows how South American networks recruit couriers from smaller countries such as Uruguay to guard shipments bound for Europe.
The man is Eros Nicola Castellan Airaldo, born in Montevideo, according to the Genoa news site GenovaToday. He was arrested on Tuesday 6 October with three Italian men. On Friday 9 October, judge Angela Maria Nutini ordered all four held in pre-trial custody.
They are accused of international drug trafficking. None has been tried or convicted, and all are presumed innocent.
How Italian Police Caught the Men
The Guardia di Finanza is Italy’s financial police, a force that also handles customs and drug smuggling at ports. A patrol from its organised crime unit was watching the PSA Genova Pra’ terminal on the evening of 6 October.
According to the force’s account, reported by Montevideo Portal, officers spotted a truck carrying a refrigerated Hapag-Lloyd container at about 6:50 p.m. They watched movements they judged suspicious for more than two hours.
At 9:38 p.m. they moved in. Officers found two of the men inside the container, pulling packages from a hidden cavity in a vertical panel. The Genoa broadcaster Primocanale said the container was already empty and had carried a load of lemons.
The haul of cocaine in Genoa came to 119 blocks that tested positive, with a gross weight of about 128.6 kilos. The force puts the retail value at about €70 million (about US$78 million at the European Central Bank reference rate of US$1.1206 per euro on Friday 9 October).
What the Uruguayan Told the Judge
Castellan Airaldo was the only one of the four to admit a role, Genova24 and GenovaToday reported. He said his job was to check that others took the goods out of the container. He denied unloading anything himself.
“I only had to check that the others took the drugs from the container. It was not mine,” he told the judge, according to Genova24 and Montevideo Portal.
He said he received a phone in Uruguay about a week before he flew to Italy. Instructions came later, in Spanish, through a messaging app. He was promised about US$10,000 and said he was never paid. He also said he did not know the other three men.
The judge found that his own account makes him the trusted man of the South American traffickers, sent to make sure the import succeeded. She ordered her ruling translated into Spanish for him.
The Uruguayan channel Subrayado, which said it had seen the ruling, reported that he flew to Italy on 23 September and planned to return on Sunday 11 October.
The Italian Suspects and the Buenos Aires Thread
The three Italians are Domenico Gurrieri, Michele Crigna, 33, and Vincenzo Maccarone, 54. Crigna and Maccarone come from Limbadi in Calabria, the southern region that is home to the ‘Ndrangheta mafia.
Gurrieri, who runs a haulage firm, denied any part in the plan. Crigna and Maccarone declined to answer questions. The judge named Maccarone as the alleged organiser. Genova24 said wire transfers to South America were found at his home, from a firm formally receiving the lemons.
At Crigna’s home, investigators found a handwritten sheet listing names, dates and container ships on the route from Guayaquil, Ecuador, to Genoa, Montevideo Portal reported, citing Italian media.
The Uruguayan said the phone came from a man called Andrés, whom he met in prison and who was killed days before. Subrayado reported that this may be Carlos Andrés Migales Viera, a Uruguayan shot dead in the Palermo district of Buenos Aires on Sunday 4 October. No authority has confirmed that link.
What It Means for You
For travellers to Uruguay, nothing changes. The case was uncovered in Italy, and there is no sign of risk to visitors in Montevideo or Punta del Este.
For US readers who follow the drug trade, the pattern is familiar. Large shipments move in legitimate fruit cargo, and small-country nationals take the riskiest jobs on the ground for modest pay.
For Uruguay, the case adds to a run of drug and money laundering stories this year. The country remains one of the safest in South America, but its port and its citizens keep appearing in cross-border cases.
For shippers and fruit importers, the case is a reminder that empty containers can still carry hidden cargo.
Recent Rio Times coverage on the same theme includes Uruguay Central Bank Investigates Monex Exchange House Over Drug Money and Marset Lawyer Denies US Talks and Says He Chose Trial.
What Is Not Known
Where the cocaine was loaded is unclear. Italian outlets said the lemons came from Chile. Some Uruguayan outlets said the container came from Ecuador. The Guayaquil notes point to that route, but no official source has confirmed the path.
It is not known who in South America hired the Uruguayan, or whether Uruguayan prosecutors have opened their own case. No public comment from Uruguay’s Interior Ministry or its prosecutors could be found.
The link to Migales rests on one Uruguayan report. The defence has not spoken publicly, and no trial date has been set.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is the Uruguayan arrested in Genoa?
Eros Nicola Castellan Airaldo, 32, born in Montevideo. He was arrested on 6 October with three Italian men and is held in pre-trial custody. He has not been convicted.
How much cocaine in Genoa was seized?
The Guardia di Finanza seized 119 blocks with a gross weight of about 128 kilos. It puts the retail value at about 70 million euros, about US$78 million.
Does the case affect travel to Uruguay?
No. The arrests took place in Italy, and there is no warning or new rule for visitors to Uruguay linked to this case.
Sources: GenovaToday, 9 October; Genova24, 9 October; GenovaToday, 8 October; Primocanale, 7 October; ANSA Liguria, 7 October; Montevideo Portal, 10 October; Subrayado, 10 October; Teledoce, 10 October; European Central Bank reference rate, 9 October.
Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief · Editorial standards · Report an error