A 31-year-old Uruguayan man was found shot dead in an apartment in Buenos Aires’ Palermo neighbourhood early Sunday. City police arrested two men suspected of involvement in the killing. Investigators are examining whether it may have been a drug-related settling of scores, but no motive has been established.
According to La Nación, police were sent to a building near 5200 Costa Rica Street after a 911 call reported a person dead. The victim’s relatives told officers that several people entered the apartment without forcing the lock, opened fire almost immediately and fled. Descriptions from witnesses, combined with footage from public and private cameras, helped police identify and arrest two suspects.
Officers later found a gun at the intersection of Santa Fe and Bullrich avenues, about eight blocks from the apartment and opposite the grounds of the Patricios Infantry Regiment. Investigators believe it may have been discarded by someone involved in the killing. National Criminal and Correctional Court No. 26 is handling the case, and forensic police were called to secure and examine the scene.
Initial accounts said the victim had arrived in Argentina only weeks earlier and was with relatives when the attack took place. Uruguayan outlet Subrayado reported that he was associated with the Los Puglia family group, which operates in Montevideo’s Villa Española neighbourhood, and had prior convictions from 2014, 2016 and 2017. Those details and a possible narcotics connection remain part of preliminary reporting, not an established motive.