Police in Mar del Plata, Argentina could never have expected the tale that would unravel after a seemingly routine drug bust. The story they found themselves part of after a 2 am arrest is still causing the lawmen to shake their heads in wonderment.
In the wee hours of 4th August 2007, customs officials at Aeroparque Jorge Newberry in Buenos Aires searched the suitcase of a US-Venezuelan businessman named Antonini Wilson. The US$800,000 that they found set off a series of events that has led to a US investigation, Argentine calls for Wilson’s extradition, and angry denials of wrongdoing by Argentine president Cristina Kirchner. The suitcase scandal has once again reminded Argentina of a shadow that has darkened its political landscape for much of its history: corruption.
