Why the three were killed remains a mystery, though police suspect that the drug gang believed Forza had double-crossed them.
A former associate of Forza, Ariel Vilan, later committed suicide, leaping from the balcony of a ninth-floor apartment. A slew of threats had terrorized him, friends said.
Since the triple killings, Argentine investigators have been tracking the murky ephedrine paper trail and searching pharmacies, customs docks and warehouses for leads. Authorities also announced new controls on ephedrine imports.
"Our concern is to limit these chemical substances that can be used for the manufacture of methamphetamine," Justice Minister Anibal Fernandez said in a TV interview in Buenos Aires.
"If we get rid of this raw material," he added, "we not only avoid trafficking to Mexico and the United States, but we also avert the possibility that methamphetamine is produced here in the future."
--
patrick.mcdonnell @latimes.com
Andres D'Alessandro of The Times' Buenos Aires Bureau contributed to this report.
