Little J: The Peruvian drug lord who ordered the murder of three young Argentine women
This Wednesday, Villa Zavaleta was filled with Buenos Aires police with a specific mission: to capture Pequeño J , the alleged drug lord who had ordered the kidnapping, mutilation and execution of Lara Gutiérrez (15), Brenda del Castillo (20) and Morena Verdi (20) . The three young Argentinian women were tricked with a false invitation to a party. They got into a white van with an altered license plate. They never returned.
Their bodies were found buried in a house in Florencio Varela , in what is being investigated as a premeditated narco-femicide . The most chilling hypothesis: the crime was broadcast live on social media , as an internal warning to other members of the drug ring.
Little J's profile: young, bloodthirsty and without a trace
Little J, also known as "Julito," was identified as Julio Valverde or Julio Noguera , a 23-year-old Peruvian national. He has no registered ID, but there is an active arrest warrant. Federal forces and the Buenos Aires City Police were unaware of his activity in Villa Zavaleta and Villa 1-11-14, which reinforces the idea that he operates in the southern Buenos Aires metropolitan area , far from the usual radar.
Judicial sources describe him as "bloodthirsty ," though they did not provide details. What is known is that he allegedly hired hitmen to carry out the crime, after allegedly stealing money and cocaine from the victims. The murder was planned as both punishment and a message.
The operation: two targets, zero arrests
Buenos Aires police targeted two key locations: a grill and a third-floor apartment. According to sources involved in the case, Pequeño J was there minutes before the officers arrived. The route sheet included his name and that of another suspect: MAO. No arrests were made. Only indications that the drug lord remains at large.
Who is investigating the triple murder?
The case is in the hands of prosecutor Gastón Duplaá , who has requested assistance from PROCUNAR (headed by Diego Iglesias) and prosecutor Cecilia Amil , who specializes in drug-related crimes. So far, there are no files directly linking the four detainees in Florencio Varela to the crime, although one is believed to be a relative of Pequeño J.
A possible connection to the "Los Cabral" clan, which was raided by the City Police in July, is also being group is made up of Argentines , which complicates the hypothesis. The focus remains on Peruvian drug gangs , which operate in areas such as Barracas and Bajo Flores , although the possibility that Florencio Varela may have served as a logistical base has not been ruled out.
The pain of families
Lara Gutiérrez's older sister posted a heartbreaking farewell on social media: "You left me alone, sister. You're going to hurt me for the rest of my life." Brenda and Morena's grandfather asked that the case be transferred to federal court: "There are things that don't make sense to me. Justice must be for all three of us."
There was no institutional support. No one called the families. Only silence. Meanwhile, the drug trafficker who ordered the crime remains at large.
Narcofemicide as a territorial message
What happened to Lara, Brenda, and Morena wasn't just a crime. It was a narco-femicide with a territorial message , a way to establish power in areas where the state is late or not at all. When a drug lord like Pequeño J orders a mass execution, the intention isn't just to punish: it's to demonstrate dominance , sow fear, and consolidate a reputation within the criminal community.
As a reader, you must understand that these types of crimes cannot be explained solely from a police perspective. There's a logic of spectacle, of live broadcast, of mafia ritual. The fact that the murder was shared on social media in a closed group is no coincidence. It's part of a strategy of symbolic control: showing that whoever challenges the drug traffickers dies. And that whoever obeys survives.
This type of violence doesn't respond to impulses. It responds to structures. To clans. To networks of complicity that extend from the territory to the judicial system. Therefore, the case of Pequeño J cannot be treated as an isolated incident. It's a symptom of something deeper: the consolidation of criminal organizations operating with a paramilitary logic in the Argentine metropolitan area .
While federal forces retreated, and the City Police tried to map what was happening in shantytowns like Zavaleta and 1-11-14, groups were reorganizing, recruiting, and executing. And they did so with frightening coldness. As in this case, where three young Argentine women were buried as if they were discarded merchandise.
Do you think the State is prepared to confront criminal organizations that broadcast their murders live?
