BUENOS AIRES: Argentina’s government accused a former spymaster and close collaborator of prosecutor Alberto Nisman, along with others, of importing nearly 100 tons of contraband into the country, the latest development in the mystery surrounding Mr. Nisman’s death last month.
Antonio Stiuso, who for years was the powerful director of operations at Argentina’s Intelligence Secretariat, worked closely with Mr. Nisman on his investigation into the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center that killed 85 people.
Mr. Nisman had concluded, based largely on information provided by Mr. Stiuso, that top Iranian officials had used Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shiite group, to carry out the suicide bombing.
Mr. Nisman said that while working on that investigation he came across evidence that Argentine President Cristina Kirchner had plotted with Iran to cover up its alleged role in the attack. In January, he filed a formal criminal complaint against the president and others for allegedly conspiring to sabotage his investigation.
Messrs. Nisman and Stiuso’s work helped lead Interpol in 2007 to issue international arrest notices for Iranian suspects. President Cristina Kirchner’s government has said the men’s work was flawed, particularly after Mr. Nisman began investigating what he said was an attempt by the government to subvert his probe.
“This is clearly contraband because the goods that were imported have nothing to do with the Intelligence Secretariat or its work,” Mr. Parilli said. He said most of the goods were imported from Miami and that the government would seek help from the U.S. Commerce Department to learn more about the materials.
Officials don’t know exactly what was imported, Mr. Parilli said, but he suspects that items such as Sony PlayStations were brought into the country tax-free with the aim of reselling them in the domestic market for personal profit. High import taxes have for years spawned a thriving underground electronics market, in which items such as iPhones, laptops and other popular gadgets are sold.
The government for weeks has struggled to contain a political crisis triggered by Mr. Nisman’s claim that Mrs. Kirchner and her associates had tried to work with Iran to derail their investigation of the 1994 bombing.
In mid-December, Mrs. Kirchner fired Mr. Stiuso after more than four decades at the agency. A month later, Mr. Nisman filed his complaint accusing Mrs. Kirchner and others of plotting to sabotage his investigation into the terrorist attack.
Mrs. Kirchner denied Mr. Nisman’s allegations and suggested that he was simply a puppet of Mr. Stiuso, who fed the prosecutor false information. Mr. Nisman’s associates, though, have described him as a diligent and independent investigator.
