A former police commissioner has been convicted for the disappearance and murders of Lucas Escalante and Lautaro Morello, the two young men who were last seen on December 9, 2022, in Florencio Varela, according to the Argentine News Agency. The convicted officer is Sergio Argañaraz, former chief of the 4th precinct of the Buenos Aires Provincial Police, who received a 3-year prison sentence for covering up the crimes, as part of a shortened trial requested by his defense. The sentence was handed down by the Oral Criminal Court No. 1 of Florencio Varela, which ruled that Argañaraz be convicted for the crime of qualified cover-up and for failure to perform official duties. Romina Escalante, Lucas's sister, previously spoke with NA and confirmed that the trial against all accused individuals will take place from April 13 to 17 of next year at Court No. 2 of Florencio Varela. Initially, the most complicated cases involve Francisco Centurión, former head of Interpol in the Province of Buenos Aires, his son Cristian Centurión, and his nephew Maximiliano Centurión, although other police officers are also implicated for aggravated cover-up, failure to perform official duties, and false testimony. The cousins are accused of double aggravated homicide by treachery and cruelty, in real conjunction with aggravated illegal deprivation of liberty committed with violence, while Centurión is accused of embezzlement of public funds in real conjunction with illegal deprivation of liberty (regarding Escalante), aggravated by lasting more than a month and being committed with violence. Morello and Escalante disappeared on December 9, 2022, in Florencio Varela when they went out to celebrate the victory of the Argentine national team in the Qatar World Cup. The first of them was found dead a few days later in a field near the Buenos Aires highway. Investigators confirm that he was also murdered, but his body has not been found. The autopsy revealed that he died by asphyxiation and that he was tortured during his kidnapping: he had a severed finger and multiple fractures. Escalante, however, remains missing.
