Police in Argentina have announced the arrest of a woman suspected of involvement in the torture and killing of three young women.
Police arrested the 30-year-old woman on Monday as she left a local TV station after giving an interview, Argentine media report.
The latest suspect is the niece of a man arrested last week on suspicion of giving logistical support to the killings.
The uncle, who was arrested in Bolivia after fleeing Argentina, is accused of driving a car that escorted the van taking the three victims to the house where they were executed.
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Security camera footage identifies the woman with her uncle inside the car that night, according to Spanish news agency EFE.
The woman claimed in the interview that she had nothing to do with the triple homicide.
Torture and killing linked to drug traffickers
The bodies of Morena Verdi and Brenda del Castillo, both aged 20, and 15-year-old Lara Gutierrez were found buried Wednesday, September 24, in the yard of a house in a southern suburb of the capital, Buenos Aires.
The young women had been missing for five days after being lured into a van believing they were going to a party.
Their torture and killing, which investigators tied to drug gangs, was allegedly livestreamed on Instagram and watched by 45 members of a private account, officials said.
It was meant to “punish” them for breaking gang rules and send a “warning” message to the rest of the gang, according to investigators.
Livestreamed murder of women sparks protests in Argentina
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This latest arrest brings the total arrested for links to the killings to seven.
Argentine police also issued arrest warrants for a 20-year-old Peruvian drug trafficker believed to be the mastermind behind the murders as well as his alleged lieutenant.
Killings sparked weekend protests in Argentina
The killing triggered protests on Saturday, when thousands of people marched on Parliament in Buenos Aires to call for justice for the three young women.
“Women must be protected more than ever,” Leonel del Castillo, the father of one of the victims, told reporters at the protest.
Speaking on Monday, the governor of Buenos Aires, Axel Kicillof, called the killings a “narco-femicide.”
Argentina cuts programs against gender-based violence
Argentina has high rates of gender violence. And femicides — killings that target women or girls — have increased in Argentina in recent years at the same time as the government of President Javier Milei takes aim at programs for women.
He announced back in January that his government would remove the crime of femicide from the penal code.
In November 2024, Argentina was the only nation to vote against a United Nations resolution promoting the end of all forms of online violence against women and girls.
And earlier that year, Milei permanently dissolved the government agency responsible for addressing gender equality, including gender-based violence.
Edited by: Zac Crellin
