A beauty queen who told a court she was simply accompanying her boyfriend on a trip to an open clothing shop has been sentenced to seven years in prison after judges ruled she was acting as a lookout for a cannabis smuggling run.
Martina Oliva, 23, known locally as Miss Oran after winning the beauty title in the northern Argentine city of Oran, was convicted alongside her partner Gustavo Tolaba, 29, by the Federal Oral Court No. 1 in Salta, northern Argentina, on 12th March.
Tolaba received ten years after the court combined the sentence with a previous conviction he was already serving.
Prosecutors said Oliva had been travelling with Tolaba in a Toyota pickup truck, acting as a lead car – driving ahead of a second vehicle carrying the drugs to spot police checkpoints and radio warnings to the car behind.
She maintained her innocence throughout the trial, telling judges she had simply been going along for the ride and that bank transfers examined by investigators had been made at her boyfriend’s request rather than her own.
The court was not persuaded. Judges found that Oliva had actively helped coordinate trips and handled financial transfers connected to the operation, while Tolaba negotiated drug purchases with suppliers in the border town of Aguas Blancas, on the frontier with Bolivia.
The operation unravelled on 5th February 2025 when officers from Argentina’s Airport Security Police intercepted the Toyota and gave chase to a Citroen C3 believed to be carrying the narcotics.
The pursuit reached speeds of over 180 kilometres per hour (112 mph) along National Route 34 before the fleeing vehicle turned onto a provincial road towards Jujuy.
During the chase, suspects threw packages of marijuana from the windows before the car eventually crashed in a field on a rural property near the provincial border.
Officers later recovered around 15 kilogrammes (33 pounds) of cannabis linked to the operation.
Investigators said the network was not a casual arrangement.
The group made at least 31 drug transport runs between October 2024 and January 2025, using a rotating pool of vehicles and deliberately taking alternative back roads to avoid known police checkpoints.
The marijuana was moved from the Bolivian border to Salta city, where it was delivered to a man named Jose Burgos, identified as a buyer who supplied the local retail drug trade.
Burgos paid around ARS six million (GBP 3,240) for each delivery.
Five other members of the network had already been convicted in separate proceedings.
Benjamin Delgado received seven years for aggravated drug transport and resisting arrest, Burgos was sentenced to five years for possession with intent to distribute, and Roberto Carlos Leiton was given four years. Juan Romero received six years, while Ángela Cuenca was convicted for her role in organising the transport but was allowed to serve her sentence under house arrest because she is responsible for three minor children, one of whom has a disability.
Oliva will remain under house arrest until the sentence becomes legally final. The court said the full written grounds for the ruling will be released on 19th March.
