A court in Buenos Aires has sentenced two members of a drug-dealing gang to life in prison for the 2022 murder of a rival gang leader.
Mauricio Matías Marca Choque, known as “Cholo Mauri,” and Ruvén Arce Alonoka, known as “Cara de Bota,” were found guilty of killing Harold Jorge “Popeyín” Vacarezza Alpiri in October 2022. The murder took place in the Padre Rodolfo Ricciardelli neighbourhood, formerly known as Villa 1-11-14.
By a majority ruling, Federal Criminal Oral Court (TOCF) No. 3 in Buenos Aires concluded that Marca Choque and Arce Alonoka were co-perpetrators of a homicide aggravated by three factors: committed with premeditation and by two or more people, for the purpose of ensuring impunity, and using a firearm.
The verdict aligned with the request submitted by Prosecutor Diego Velasco, of Prosecutor’s Office No. 6, and the PROCUNAR (Procuraduría de Narcocriminalidad) anti-narcotics unit. Prosecutor Matías Álvarez co-signed the submission.
Marca Choque was also convicted on separate charges of aggravated drug-trafficking, as well as for the stockpiling of firearms, ammunition and weapons parts. His sentence also incorporates a 2021 conviction for minor injuries, illegal possession of a civilian-use firearm, and disobedience, issued by a court in Lomas de Zamora.
According to prosecutors, the murder was part of a turf war over drug-dealing territory. The victim, Vacarezza Alpiri, was associated with a faction challenging control of the so-called “Peruvians’ Sector” – a hotbed for drug-dealing activity in the low-income neighbourhood.
The written reasons behind the court’s decision will be published on Friday, October 17.
Vacarezza Alpiri was gunned down on the night of October 12, 2022, at the La Tía Dona bar on Avenida Riestra, where he had been socialising with a friend.
Prosecutors said Marca Choque and Arce Alonoka arrived at the scene wearing dark jackets, hoods and face masks. They exited their vehicle, hid behind an SUV, drew their weapons and opened fire.
Vacarezza Alpiri was hit five times out of eight, suffering gunshot wounds to the abdomen and chest. He was transported to a nearby hospital but died the following morning.
After the shooting, the attackers fled the scene on foot in different directions. The driver of the getaway vehicle, who also escaped, remains unidentified.
Police have linked the murder to long-running turf wars over narcotics-trafficking in the area, which has been dominated for over two decades by a criminal organisation originally led by Peruvian national Marco Estrada Gonzáles, known as “Marcos.” Following his incarceration, the gang’s operations were reorganised under Johnny Ray “Pantro” Arnao Quispe and Ulises “Pitufo” Romero Godoy.
Vacarezza Alpiri was reportedly the brother of Dante Vacarezza Alpiri, a close associate of former gang boss “Pantro.” According to investigators, Marca Choque and Arce Alonoka sought to assert control over the territory after the arrest of senior gang figures, with the killing intended to clear the way for their leadership.
Marca Choque, originally tied to a rival drug-dealing group operating in the Padre Múgica and Bermejo neighbourhoods of Villa Lugano, is believed to have returned to the Villa 1-11-14 area to reclaim influence following the power vacuum.
In November 2022, Marca Choque was arrested during a raid on his home. Authorities seized nearly half a kilo of cocaine, 448 grams of crack base, and 854 grams of marijuana packaged in dozens of individual wraps, along with multiple firearms.
A forensic analysis determined that one of the weapons – a 9mm Browning pistol marked “Police of Buenos Aires Province” – had been used in the killing of Vacarezza Alpiri.
– TIMES/NA/PERFIL
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