Argentina: Messi targeted by threats after the attack on a store belonging to his in-laws
A police officer in front of Lionel Messi's in-laws' supermarket was targeted by a dozen shots on March 2, 2023. AP - Sebastian Lopez Brach
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
Has Lionel Messi been threatened by drug traffickers from his hometown of Rosario?
During the night of Wednesday to Thursday, a supermarket belonging to his in-laws was targeted by a dozen gunshots, a common method of extortion in this city plagued by organized crime.
Before fleeing, the criminals left behind an enigmatic threatening message.
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In front of the metal curtain of the supermarket riddled with bullets, a piece of cardboard with the inscription: “
Messi, we are waiting for you.
Javkin is a narco, he won't protect you
."
The handwritten message is directly addressed to the sevenfold Golden Ball, and accuses the city's centrist mayor of being in cahoots with drug traffickers, reports our correspondent in Benos Aires, Théo
Conscience
.
A witness confirmed seeing two men on a motorcycle shortly before 03:00 (local time), one of them getting off to shoot and throw the box before fleeing.
No one was hurt.
🚨AHORA🚨
👉Balearon a local of the family of Antonela Roccuzzo in Rosario y dejaron una amenaza contra Lionel Messi
👉La police encontró una nota mafiosa directed al crack rosarino: “Messi te estamos esperando.
Javkin es narco, no te va a cuidar”.
pic.twitter.com/jtjvYPcAeb
— Marcelo Bonelli (@BonelliOK) March 2, 2023
A question then arises: is this really a threat, or an attempt to discredit the elected official in the run-up to the municipal elections next September?
Arriving there the next morning, Mayor Pablo Javkin denounced a "
perfidious
" instrumentalization and once again called for the reinforcement of federal forces to fight against drug traffickers.
Homicide rate four times higher than the national average
A provincial police official, Ivan Gonzalez, said on Cadena 3 television that the message was "not
a threat
" but an act intended "
to attract attention
".
The prosecutor handling the case, Federico Rebola, said there was "no
known history of threats
" against the family of
Lionel Messi
's wife , Antonella Roccuzzo.
“
We are concerned, this has a huge repercussion
,” he nevertheless told the press.
" We have
(CCTV)
footage
, and we are looking for other cameras
."
While many Rosarinos dream of seeing Lionel Messi again wear the tunic of Newell's Old Boys, the club where he started as a child, the manager of the rival team Rosario central, said last month that many footballers did not want not come and play in Rosario because of insecurity.
In the hometown of Lionel Messi, the homicide rate is indeed four times higher than the national average and the terror caused by drug traffickers regularly makes the headlines in the Argentine media.
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