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URUGUAY · JUSTICE
Key Facts
- —The country Uruguay, a nation of about 3.4 million between Brazil and Argentina, is usually ranked among South America’s cleanest democracies. Drug money near a party payroll draws unusual attention there.
- —The background Operation Trazador seized more than 260 kilos of drugs and ended with three convictions. One of those convicted, Pablo Leiva, was a paid aide to a councillor in Jorge Gandini’s National Party faction.
- —Why now Leiva regularly paid bills at a payment outlet owned by Gandini’s wife. Gandini, a former senator who now sits on the ports authority’s board for the opposition, asked to see the case file.
- —What happened Drug prosecutor Angelita Romano refused, saying Gandini “is neither under investigation nor a victim”, El Observador and Montevideo Portal reported on 1 October 2026.
- —Who is who Gandini leads Por la Patria, a faction of the opposition National Party. His wife, the accountant Laura Scalabrino Muga, owns the payment outlet.
- —What it means for you No authority has accused Gandini or his wife of wrongdoing. The refusal applies a standard secrecy rule, not a finding about them.
- —Still open Where the separate money-laundering inquiry leads, and how the National Party deals with the councillor who employed Leiva.
A Uruguay drug prosecutor has refused to let Jorge Gandini, a former National Party senator, see the investigation file of Operation Trazador. The case ended with three drug-related convictions, including that of a paid aide in Gandini’s own political faction.
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Prosecutor Angelita Romano said Gandini “is neither under investigation nor a victim” in the case, El Observador reported on 1 October 2026. Only suspects, victims and their lawyers may see such files.
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What the prosecutor decided
Romano, who heads the first-shift drug prosecution office, cited the rules on preliminary investigations. Those proceedings “shall be reserved for third parties outside the procedure”, her reply said.
She added that the file stays reserved even after an investigation ends. Victims, suspects and their defence lawyers, by contrast, have free access, she wrote, as quoted by El Observador.
Montevideo Portal confirmed the refusal and its grounds. The prosecution service’s own rules say complainants who are not victims cannot see the file either.
Why Gandini asked
Gandini wrote to Romano the week before, saying he and his wife had been “publicly mentioned as linked” to the case. Neither had been contacted or summoned by any authority, he said.
“I am convinced that I am entitled to see that file, to defend my honour and my family’s,” he wrote. He made the request personally, without a lawyer.
Gandini, a former senator, now sits for the opposition on the board of the National Ports Administration. That state body runs Uruguay’s public ports, including Montevideo.
How his name came up
Pablo Leiva was a paid aide to Gonzalo Gómez, a Montevideo councillor from Por la Patria, the National Party faction Gandini leads. He was dismissed after his conviction.
Leiva received two years and six months for laundering drug money and for trafficking ammunition. The operation seized more than 260 kilos of drugs, valued at about US$2 million, El Observador reported.
Leiva paid bills at a franchise of a payment-collection network owned by Gandini’s wife, as well as at other outlets. At a press conference on 22 September, Gandini said: “We have nothing to hide.”
He said Leiva was a local regular who paid two social-security receipts for two construction firms, and did not change money there. “We are not responsible for any illicit activity,” he added, saying neither he nor his wife knew Leiva.
What comes next
The money-laundering prosecutor, Enrique Rodríguez, opened a new investigation on 28 September into how the gang moved its cash. It looks at exchange houses and bill-payment offices; no politician has been charged.
The National Party has separately referred councillor Gómez to its ethics committee. The refusal does not mean Gandini is under suspicion; it applies a rule that closes files to outsiders.
Nor does it settle what the file contains, or what parts of it have reached the press. The reports of 1 October carried no response from Gandini to the refusal.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Jorge Gandini?
He is a veteran politician of Uruguay’s opposition National Party and a former senator. He leads the Por la Patria faction and sits on the board of the state ports authority for the opposition.
Why was he denied access to the file?
Uruguay’s rules keep preliminary investigation files reserved for third parties. Only suspects, victims and their lawyers may see them, and the prosecutor said Gandini is neither a suspect nor a victim.
Is Gandini accused of any crime?
No. Neither he nor his wife has been summoned or charged. His name came up because a convicted aide in his faction paid bills at a payment outlet his wife owns.
What was Operation Trazador?
It was a police and prosecution case that seized more than 260 kilos of drugs and led to three convictions, including the laundering conviction of the aide Pablo Leiva.
Sources: la diaria, 2 October 2026, El Observador, 1 October 2026, Montevideo Portal, 1 October 2026, El Observador, Gandini press conference, 22 September 2026. All retrieved 2 October 2026.
Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief · Editorial standards · Report an error
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