During the investigation, it was established that the number of victims increased from three to thirty-three, and the possibility of more affected adolescents is not ruled out. Information provided on the Fiscales portal, accessed by the Argentine News Agency (NA), indicates that the mother of one of the victims filed the complaint after finding that her daughter possessed a high-end cell phone. Upon reviewing it, she found messages of a sexual nature, including one sent by a currently accused remis (ride-hailing driver) who made reference to his other 12-year-old daughter. With the precise role of each of the accused, the prosecutor's office described how the sexual trafficking network originated and what its main objective was: "To the point that their perversity led them to discard adolescents who were advancing in age." In the case of sexual trafficking of high school students in the province of Salta, there are 33 victims, and judicial authorities have also confirmed that there are nine accused. Given the severity of the case and the possibility of receiving new complaints, the expansion of the criminal charge and the extension of the investigation period until the end of May 2026 were authorized. In the hearing held days ago, Federal Guarantee Judge No. 1, Julio Bavio, granted the request of prosecutors Eduardo Villalba and Roxana Gual regarding the investigation of the sexual trafficking network in charge of recruiting high school students from both private and public schools. The beginning of the case occurred in mid-June last year after the first complaint that led to the detention of four people in September who were accused as co-authors of the crime of human trafficking for the purpose of recruitment, promotion, facilitation, and sexual exploitation, aggravated by vulnerability, minority, and the number of victims; the number of intervening parties and the fact that the exploitation had been consummated. Following this, another five implicated individuals were added, who were also accused of participating in the trafficking network. "When they turned 18, they were discarded," it was specified. Although the Attorney General identified the remis as the founder of this network, who received money for coordinating sexual services, he was not the only one in charge of recruitment, as all of them had a role, because there was a common indicator in the victims that the accused "asked them to get more friends." Specifically, the prosecutor stated that "the existence of a significant number of minor victims was proven, who fell into a network that, for different purposes, allowed the accused to sexually exploit them." At the end of the hearing, the prosecutor's office stated that it still remains "to analyze a large amount of evidence that could reveal other crimes, or identify other people involved in this sexual trafficking network."
