The new official explanation for the suitcase scandal: ARCA does not require them to be checked.

The executive director of the Customs Collection and Control Agency (ARCA), Juan Pazo, defended the actions of Customs and gave a new official version of why the 10 suitcases that arrived on a private flight—a plane owned by businessman and former SIDE agent Leonardo Scatturice, linked to high-ranking government officials—in which conservative CPAC leader Laura Belén Arrieta was traveling, were not inspected.

In an interview with A24 , where he made his statement, after video captures emerged this Sunday showing how the suitcases were brought into the country without going through security controls, Pazo stated that "recently (Customs) has not scanned 100% of the suitcases and luggage that come into the Argentine Republic."

The head of the ARCA insisted that it is not mandatory to scan the luggage of all passengers entering the country. "The regulations indicate that it is a selective authority of Customs personnel," he emphasized.

In March, when the information about the mysterious luggage first broke on Carlos Pagni's Odisea program, presidential spokesman Manuel Adorni had described the matter as "fake news" and stated that the government has no connection with Arrieta, despite the photos of the President and the woman posing.

Shortly after, Customs issued a statement denying any irregularities in the control of the private flight that brought the conservative CPAC leader to Argentina, but clarified that it would initiate an internal investigation to determine whether there had been any failure in customs control.

Now Pazo offers a new explanation as the official version . The head of ARCA spoke of "international standards" for baggage screening and suggested that the bags weren't scanned in Argentina because they had already been scanned in the United States , where controls are very strict.

"It's one thing for a plane to arrive from Venezuela, Nigeria , or some other high-security country. It's another thing for it to come from the United States. When a plane arrives from the United States, the baggage complied with all U.S. security procedures for boarding the plane at its origin," he stated.

And he commented that when it comes to private planes, such as the case of the plane that brought Arrieta and the 10 suitcases that entered the country without control, the control "has a superior procedure than that of an airliner."

Pazo recalled that when Customs learned of what had happened , "it issued a summary report to Aeroparque personnel" and that " a criminal complaint was filed through that Customs Control subdirectorate."

"Logic dictates that if we had wanted to hide something, the last thing we would have done was initiate this procedure," he stressed.

And he added that when the investigation began, " Customs did not detect any irregularities and the Justice Department continued investigating."

"I'm particularly struck by the magnitude they've given this case, especially since it was Customs who initiated the proceedings in court," he insisted.