Cash in seven currencies opened a line of inquiry into money laundering
When federal police entered a Palermo apartment in search of stolen state technology, they found something far harder to explain: a former government executive sitting atop a small fortune in seven currencies, alongside quantities of ketamine, ecstasy, and cocaine sufficient to suggest more than personal use. Facundo Leal, who had led Argentina's satellite agency under one president and its airport regulator under another, now sits in custody while investigators attempt to determine whether the money, the drugs, and the original theft inquiry are chapters of the same story or entirely separate ones. It is a moment that asks, quietly but insistently, what accumulates in the spaces between public office and private life.
- A warrant for equipment theft cracked open something far larger — over $650,000 in seven currencies, nearly 300 grams of ketamine, ecstasy pills, and cocaine found in a single Palermo apartment.
- The sheer breadth of the haul — scales, ziplock bags, foreign cash, digital devices — transformed a targeted raid into a sprawling criminal puzzle with no clean edges.
- Leal's trajectory across two ideologically opposed administrations now looks less like institutional continuity and more like a man who knew how to stay close to power regardless of who held it.
- Investigators are racing to untangle whether the multi-currency cash is the proceeds of state corruption, drug trafficking, money laundering, or some combination of all three.
- With 12 to 15 simultaneous raids conducted and judicial scrutiny expanding, authorities are signaling they believe this is systemic — not the isolated misconduct of one official.
On the morning of May 27th, federal police arrived at a Palermo apartment with a focused mandate: gather evidence in a theft investigation involving ARSAT, Argentina's state satellite and telecommunications company. What they encountered instead was a scene that immediately outgrew its original purpose. Inside the home of Facundo Leal — who had run ARSAT until mid-2025 — officers found more than $650,000 in cash distributed across seven currencies, including dollars, euros, Brazilian reals, and even Tanzanian shillings, alongside roughly two million Argentine pesos.
The money alone was enough to detain him. But the apartment also held nearly 300 grams of ketamine, crystal MDMA, more than 70 ecstasy pills, cocaine, and the physical infrastructure of distribution: a scale, ziplock bags, phones, computers, and documents. Leal, 51, had served as ARSAT's president under Alberto Fernández and then led the national airport regulator ORSNA under Javier Milei until January 2026 — a rare continuity across two administrations with little else in common. Even after leaving ORSNA, he remained on ARSAT's permanent payroll.
The investigation had originated with allegations of equipment theft and irregular contracting at ARSAT, overseen by federal judge Lino Mirabelli and prosecutor Fernando Domínguez. As the inquiry deepened, it triggered a coordinated sweep of 12 to 15 locations simultaneously — a scale that suggested investigators were not chasing an isolated incident but something structural. Leal's earlier departure from ORSNA had already attracted attention, linked to questions about a flight taken on an aircraft connected to a businessman with ties to the Milei orbit.
With Leal now in custody, the judiciary faces a layered task: determining whether the cash, the drugs, and the stolen equipment belong to a single criminal architecture or represent separate and compounding failures. What began as an inquiry into missing fiber optic cables has become a question about what, exactly, was being built in the shadow of public office.
On Wednesday, May 27th, federal police entered an apartment in the Palermo neighborhood of Buenos Aires with a warrant focused on one thing: investigating the theft of expensive technology from ARSAT, the state satellite and telecommunications company. What they found instead opened a much larger door. In the apartment of Facundo Leal, a former executive who had run ARSAT until mid-2025, officers discovered more than $650,000 in cash spread across seven different currencies—dollars, euros, Brazilian reals, Uruguayan pesos, Mexican pesos, Colombian pesos, and Tanzanian shillings. They also found roughly two million Argentine pesos. The cash alone was enough to detain him. But there was more.
The officers seized nearly 300 grams of ketamine, crystal MDMA, more than 70 ecstasy pills, and an unspecified quantity of cocaine. They took cell phones, computers, storage devices, and documents. They took a scale, ziplock bags, and the apparatus of drug distribution. The accumulation of objects told a story that went far beyond a single apartment in Palermo. Leal, 51, had held significant positions in Argentina's government under two very different administrations. From 2022 to June 2025, during Alberto Fernández's presidency, he served as head of ARSAT. When Javier Milei took office, Leal was appointed to lead ORSNA, the national airport regulatory agency, a post he held until January 2026. Even after leaving that role, he remained on ARSAT's permanent payroll.
The original investigation that brought police to his door had begun with allegations of equipment theft from ARSAT and was being handled by federal judge Lino Mirabelli in San Isidro, with prosecutor Fernando Domínguez overseeing the case. As investigators dug deeper, they uncovered what appeared to be irregular contracting practices within the state company itself. That discovery triggered a coordinated operation: between 12 and 15 simultaneous raids across multiple locations, with Leal's apartment as one of the targets. The scale of the operation suggested authorities believed they were looking at something systemic, not incidental.
The presence of cash in multiple foreign currencies immediately raised questions about money laundering and the source of the funds. Judicial sources indicated that investigators would now pursue a specific line of inquiry to determine where the money came from and whether it connected to other crimes. The drugs and cash together suggested possibilities that ranged from personal consumption to trafficking to something more complex—a way to move or hide money across borders.
Leal's exit from government in January had already drawn scrutiny. He and Luis Pierrini, the transport secretary under whom he worked, both left their positions amid questions about a flight they took on an aircraft connected to businessman Pablo Toviggino. Beyond that controversy, Leal was known to have political ties to Leonardo Scatturice, a businessman with growing influence in circles close to the Milei administration. After Leal's departure from ORSNA, the agency passed to Noelia Ruiz.
As of the time of his arrest, Leal remained in custody while the judiciary worked through the seized materials and attempted to determine whether the money, the fiber optic cables found during the raid, and the drugs represented an extension of the original theft investigation or whether they constituted entirely separate criminal matters. The questions multiplying around him suggested that what began as an inquiry into stolen equipment had become something far more consequential.
Notable Quotes
Judicial sources indicated investigators would pursue a specific line of inquiry to determine the source of the multi-currency cash and its connection to other crimes— Judicial sources cited in investigation
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why would someone in his position keep that much cash in his apartment?
That's the question investigators are asking. The multi-currency aspect is what caught their attention—it suggests either movement of money across borders or an attempt to obscure its origin.
Did he have a known connection to drug trafficking before this?
Not publicly. He was a government official, a technocrat. The drugs and cash together are what's unusual. It raises the question of whether this was personal use, distribution, or something tied to his position.
What does the fiber optic cable connection mean?
The original investigation was about stolen ARSAT equipment—high-value technology. Finding cables during the raid suggests the theft investigation may have been legitimate, or it may have been cover for something else entirely.
How does someone go from running a state company to this?
That's the arc authorities are trying to trace. He had access, he had connections, he had knowledge of contracts and procurement. The question is whether he exploited that position or whether this was separate from his work.
Will the political ties matter?
They already are. His connection to Scatturice and the circumstances around his exit from office are part of the larger picture. In Argentina, these things rarely exist in isolation.