Four San Juan police officers transferred over $6 million theft in illegal raid in Ullum
Four members of the Western Investigation Brigade were relocated following a report of a $6 million theft during an alleged illegal raid in Ullum, San Juan.
Police transfers in San Juan following theft report during raid in Ullum
Four members of the Western Investigation Brigade of the San Juan Police were transferred from their posts as part of the judicial investigation and administrative proceedings opened over the alleged theft of $6,000,000 during an alleged illegal raid in Ullum. According to canal13sanjuan.com, the transfers were ordered via Memorandum No. 63/2026, issued by the Personnel Directorate D-1 and signed by police chief, retired general commissioner Néstor Álvarez. The document is dated 9 November, but its contents came to light on Friday.
Among those affected by the measure is Sub-Commissioner Héctor Andrés Ríos, who until last week led the brigade based in La Bebida, Rivadavia. Ríos was assigned to the 4th Police Station in Desamparados. Also relocated were Sub-Inspector Officer Gerardo Ortiz—transferred to the 7th Police Station in Pocito—, Assistant Officer César Gil Noriega—to the Western Radio Command Division—and First Corporal Francisco Infante—to the 18th Police Station in Albardón. To replace Ríos, the authorities appointed Chief Officer Juan Moyano as head of the Western Brigade.
Police and judicial sources indicated that the transfers are also linked to an administrative investigation initiated in the Management Control Sub-Secretariat. For the time being, the criminal case has not been formalised and the relocations constitute an administrative measure, without implying a declaration of responsibility for those involved.
The episode that triggered the investigation
The case came to light on Monday 2 November, when a resident of Ullum reported that three men dressed in civilian clothes and armed had entered his home located on Route 60. The men identified themselves as police and argued they were searching for firearms, but displayed neither a court order nor identification proving they belonged to the force. After searching various areas of the property, they left. Shortly afterwards, the owner noticed that $6,000,000 he had stored in a piece of furniture was missing.
A key detail to guide the investigation was the registration plate of the vehicle used by the suspects. The victim noted the number plate of the grey car in which they fled; a family member living in the opposite house identified the vehicle as a Renault Logan. Upon checking this information, investigators determined that the registration corresponded to a vehicle assigned to the Western Investigation Brigade, which placed members of that department under suspicion and changed the course of the inquiry.
Raid on police headquarters and seizure of mobile phones
The report was initially filed at the 15th Police Station and began to be investigated by the Task Force for Offences against Property. When the possibility emerged that those involved were officers of the provincial Police, the case was transferred to the Task Force for Special Offences, under the direction of prosecutor Iván Grassi.
In that context, Grassi and his team carried out a raid on the headquarters of the Western Brigade. During the procedure, documentation, the duty roster and mobile telephones of the officers under suspicion were seized. In addition, security camera footage was incorporated into the case: a camera located on a public road captured the Renault Logan as it left the Ullum area. Evidence also emerged that some brigade members had been in the vicinity of Ullum and Zonda on the day the episode occurred.
The investigation aims to reconstruct what happened that morning, determine who participated in the entry to the home and establish the whereabouts of the money reported as stolen.
Source: Google News PR — San Juan