Armed Robbery on Panamerican Highway
On Tuesday afternoon two policemen were shot dead on the Panamerican Highway, just north of Buenos Aires. The shooting was the result of an attack carried out on armoured vehicles that were escorting a truck transporting $20m for Banco de la Provincia.
At least 12 robbers wearing bullet proof vests and gloves to prevent leaving fingerprints approached the armored vehicle at approximately 2pm and fired directly into the windshield killing police officers, Rubén Fangio, 42, and Darío García, 46. The robbery appears to be part of a highly coordinated and organized attack.
The plan to transport money was issued on Thursday, leaving time for the robbers to plan the assault. As governor Daniel Scioli announced, “This did not occur by chance. This was planned, organized, and coldly calculated.”
“We are surprised and saddened by the deaths,” announced one of the police escorts who survived the attack. This morning the chief of police in Buenos Aires, Juan Carlos Paggi, said that we “will bring them to justice…The gang weren’t sufficiently professional in carrying out the robbery and what’s more, they killed two policemen who didn’t have the possibility of defending themselves. We are not going to stop here.”
The police are appealing to witnesses who were on site and are examining security videos. Chief of Justice Security has assured that in the next few hours, “they will have new information.”
Land Clash in Formosa
A policeman, and an indigenous member of the Toba community were killed today in a violent clash in the province of Formosa. The clash occurred in Colonia La Primevera, 170km north of the capital city.
The incident was the result of an ongoing land dispute between the state and the Toba people, who are attempting to reclaim 600 hectares of territory. Early this morning the judge of Clorinda ordered that the police evict the Toba families who continue to occupy the land after four months of protest and highway blockades.
Felix Diaz, representative of the Toba community and member of INADI, explained that the deaths occurred this morning when a group people, accompanied by policemen attacked the picket line, just outside Route 86.
The land dispute has lasted for more than four months, and INADI intend to sustain the protest effort.
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[...] by theft is a new current of crime to hit Buenos Aires in recent months. On 24th November 2010, a vehicle hold up performed by a group of armed men on motorcycles, resulted in the theft of $20 million bound for Banco de La Provincia. The case appeared to have [...]
[...] of La Primavera in protest of ancestral land usurpations and the construction of a university, the measure turned violent. Police and armed civilians tried to remove the protestors, resulting in several serious injuries [...]
[...] incident echoed last year’s brutal police evictions inFormosa province and theParque Interamericano in the Buenos Aires neighbourhood of Villa Soldati. In both cases, [...]