The US State Department will base a regional unit of its narcotics and law enforcement bureau in Argentina and has approved a US$13.35 million fund for anti-drug programs, the Security Ministry announced on Monday, October 5.
The unit belongs to the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL), the State Department office that specializes in drug trafficking and law enforcement. The Ministry said US$7.5 million of the fund will go to equipment, training and cooperation projects in Argentina and US$5.85 million to regional initiatives in which Argentina will take part. It said the money multiplies by ten the investment in cooperation, and Security Minister Alejandra Monteoliva made the same point in her post announcing the unit.
Monteoliva framed the unit as a tool against transnational criminal organizations and organized crime. Her post on X said the unit "will be based in our country"; some headlines turned that into a US base, and one said it was to "combat terrorism." Neither her post nor the Ministry's announcement mentions terrorism or a military facility.
Argentina es un país confiable y nuestros aliados lo saben. Con Estados Unidos somos socios estratégicos en seguridad. Por eso, una nueva unidad regional de @StateINL, la oficina del Departamento de Estado de EE.UU. especializada en narcotráfico y aplicación de la ley, tendrá base en nuestro país y contará con USD 7,5 millones para equipamiento, capacitación y proyectos de seguridad, multiplicando por diez la inversión en cooperación. Frente a organizaciones criminales transnacionales que no reconocen fronteras, trabajamos junto a nuestros socios para proteger a las familias y combatir al crimen organizado en toda la región. Ley y orden.
Translation: "Argentina is a reliable country and our allies know it. With the United States we are strategic partners in security. That is why a new regional unit of @StateINL, the US State Department office specialized in drug trafficking and law enforcement, will be based in our country and will have US$7.5 million for equipment, training and security projects, multiplying by ten the investment in cooperation. Against transnational criminal organizations that do not recognize borders, we work with our partners to protect families and fight organized crime across the region. Law and order."
The Ministry said cooperation with the US on criminal intelligence and interdiction has strengthened operations against drug-trafficking groups and helped dismantle routes used to move drugs. It described the unit as a new step in that work, which covers information exchange, criminal intelligence, training, technical assistance and joint operations.
INL describes its mission as keeping Americans safe by countering crime and illegal drugs abroad. The State Department says the bureau works in more than 90 countries, using security assistance (equipment, expertise and training for foreign governments), visa restrictions and reward programs, and diplomatic pressure. Its assistant secretary is F. Cartwright Weiland.
Argentine cocaine seizures reached a record 13,476 kilos in 2025, 14% more than in 2024, according to Security Ministry data in the April report that Chief of Cabinet Manuel Adorni, who coordinates the cabinet, presented to Congress. Monteoliva has put the total for the last two years at more than 25 tonnes.
INL's work in Argentina predates the unit. Todd Robinson, then INL's assistant secretary, visited Buenos Aires in October 2024, when then-Security Minister Patricia Bullrich announced a project for a regional intelligence center against synthetic drug trafficking. Argentina's Foreign Ministry said at the time that a United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime training program backed by INL had trained more than 1,500 federal and provincial officials since March 2023.
On April 23, the day the Ministry opened its regional organized-crime intelligence center (CRIACO), Under Secretary DiNanno, whose area at the State Department includes INL, wrote on X that INL had committed US$1 million to it. The center is meant to spot drug-trafficking patterns early and coordinate with regional partners.
In August, Buenos Aires hosted the 40th International Drug Enforcement Conference, the annual forum the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has run since 1983. The Ministry and the DEA co-hosted it, with delegations from more than 100 countries, and DEA Administrator Terrance Cole said the agency would keep investing resources in Argentina. Weiland was a guest speaker, the DEA said, and the Ministry said on August 21 that Monteoliva had met him and Ambassador Peter Lamelas. It added that INL, the embassy and the US Congress were working to commit US$7.5 million to anti-narcotics cooperation, which it said would be the largest annual US contribution to Argentina in the history of the relationship.