A fifth suspect has been arrested over the live-streamed torture and murder of two women and a girl in Argentina, authorities said, in a case that has shocked the South American nation.
The bodies of Morena Verdi and Brenda Del Castillo, cousins aged 20, and 15-year-old Lara Gutierrez were found buried Wednesday in the yard of a house in a southern suburb of Buenos Aires, five days after they went missing.
The crime, which investigators have tied to narco activity, was perpetrated live on Instagram and watched by 45 members of a private account, officials said.
Activists have planned a weekend protest against femicide in response to the killings, with the main event being a march in the capital.
On Friday, National Security Minister Patricia Bullrich announced the arrest of a fifth suspect, bringing the total number to three men and two women.
The man, accused of providing logistical support with a car, was arrested in the Bolivian border city of Villazon, after collaboration between the two countries’ police forces.
Investigators said the victims, thinking they were going to a party, were lured into a van allegedly as part of a plan to “punish” them for violating a gang code and as a warning to others.
READ ALSO: Protesters Demand Answers 11 Years After Mexican Students Vanished
Police discovered the video after one of the detainees revealed it under questioning, according to Javier Alonso, security minister for Buenos Aires province.
In the footage, a gang leader is heard saying: “This is what happens to those who steal drugs from me.”
Argentine media are reporting the torturers cut off fingers, pulled out nails, beat and suffocated the victims.
Meta, the parent company of Instagram, disputed that the livestream occurred on its platform.
“We have not found any evidence of the livestream taking place on Instagram. Our team continues to cooperate with law enforcement as they investigate this horrific crime,” a spokesperson told AFP.
Dozens of people accompanied a mourning procession Friday to a cemetery outside Buenos Aires, where a private burial for Verdi and Del Castillo was held.
Gutierrez was laid to rest in a different location.
