Miguel Ángel Villalba requests house arrest due to health issues

Miguel Ángel ‘Mameluco’ Villalba, a 64-year-old convicted drug trafficker, has requested house arrest via electronic monitoring due to digestive and prostate health issues. Villalba, considered a highly dangerous criminal figure in San Martín, is currently serving a unified sentence of 27 years in prison, with potential assisted liberty estimated for 2030.

Villalba has a significant criminal history, including convictions for drug trafficking in 2004 and 2014, and money laundering in 2018. He was also linked to the 2022 distribution of poisoned cocaine that resulted in 24 deaths. His defense team is seeking the change in custody following reports of serious health complications, including rumors of prostate cancer and a previous rectal bleeding incident in late 2023 that required hospitalization.

Judge Walter Venditti, who presided over Villalba’s last conviction, will decide whether the inmate can serve the remainder of his sentence at his residence in Carlos Spegazzini, Ezeiza. Villalba and his family are also currently facing a third drug trafficking case before the Federal Oral Court 5 (TOF 5).