Insecurity once again demonstrated its dominance in the Buenos Aires suburbs with two violent episodes occurring in La Matanza and La Plata that highlight the absolute deterioration of the security system. In both cases, the common denominator was the abandonment by the provincial government: merchants turned into vigilantes out of necessity and criminals moving with impunity.
The most recent case occurred in González Catán, where two criminals attempted to rob a Chinese supermarket on Apipé street. The merchant's response was not to wait for the police, but to take justice into his own hands. With a .40 caliber Taurus pistol –illegally owned– he fired seven shots at the robbers' backs, who fled leaving their motorcycle behind. One of the bullets hit the right ankle of one of the suspects, César Gómez, and another hit his back. He was found shortly after by the Bonaerense Police at the Simplemente Evita hospital, while his accomplice, César Monzón, was also arrested. Both had already been reported for another attempted robbery, a few blocks away, by a merchant who clearly identified the strikers.
La moto utilizada en el hecho.
The criminals were riding a 110 cc motorcycle with filed chassis and engine numbers, in broad daylight, and carried another firearm that was seized. The investigation is being conducted by UFI No. 2 of La Matanza, led by prosecutor Gastón Duplaá, who charged the merchant with illegal possession of a weapon of war. Thus, the Justice system ends up prosecuting the victim while the perpetrators are treated in public hospitals.
Una de las armas incautadas.
This incident occurs in a context where criminal violence is not only expressed in common robberies. At the beginning of April, in Villa Elvira, La Plata, a young cashier at a Chinese supermarket was attacked at point-blank range by a hooded gunman who entered the store and fired without a word. Security cameras showed a chilling scene: the striker was holding his cell phone on a video call while shooting, allegedly fulfilling an "execution test" demanded by Asian mafias. According to police sources, it was a hitman attack by streaming, a practice increasingly common in the underworld of organized crime. The supermarket had opened just five days earlier.
