Trip Reports Street robbery in Palermo

[MikeDos]

If you can't make out what the news lady is saying, she says it happened at Gurruchaga and El Salvador and that they robbed him of his watch.

 

[RichardOne]

Comments;

It was a strong young man being mugged. Surely had an expensive watch, and most likely the burglars were informed by a waiter.

PD: Already posted

 

[Therek]

this was from a few months back, no?

 

[earlyretirement]

Yep. I posted that a few months ago on a different link. Honestly, you're a fool if you wear an expensive watch in Buenos Aires. I used to own several companies in Argentina that dealt with a lot of locals and foreigners and the ONLY ones that got robbed were clients wearing expensive Rolex or Cartier watches. Literally all the people that I know that got watches robbed were those 2 brands.

How it works is all these thieves have contacts that work in restaurants (waiters, etc) and they can easily see if the watch is real because the second hand sweeps instead of ticks). They can see anyone wearing an expensive model of watch and then they will call these thugs to rob you.

I had a client many years ago that was just walking out of the Alvear Palace Hotel from having dinner and got robbed immediately after that. So that's definitely how it's done. You have to avoid wearing expensive watches. I've never had any issues wearing rings nor have I heard about thieves robbing rings but I'm sure that isn't a good idea either. But these watches always are stolen.

 

[LenonGo]

Yep. I posted that a few months ago on a different link. Honestly, you're a fool if you wear an expensive watch in Buenos Aires. I used to own several companies in Argentina that dealt with a lot of locals and foreigners and the ONLY ones that got robbed were clients wearing expensive Rolex or Cartier watches. Literally all the people that I know that got watches robbed were those 2 brands.

How it works is all these thieves have contacts that work in restaurants (waiters, etc) and they can easily see if the watch is real because the second hand sweeps instead of ticks). They can see anyone wearing an expensive model of watch and then they will call these thugs to rob you.

I had a client many years ago that was just walking out of the Alvear Palace Hotel from having dinner and got robbed immediately after that. So that's definitely how it's done. You have to avoid wearing expensive watches. I've never had any issues wearing rings nor have I heard about thieves robbing rings but I'm sure that isn't a good idea either. But these watches always are stolen.

Thanks for your input. I would not have posted it if I'd know you had already done so.

But back to the substance of your comments.

1) If the robberies are this exclusive, targeting only Rolex and Cartier, they are predictable, and therefore reproducible.
2) This means that a sting operation could be set up with minimal difficulty and a high probability of success.
3) The fact that this has not been done is a clear indication that the fix is in at a high level.

This is stupidly short-sighted, since such robberies will tend to drive away the tourists with more money than sense, exactly the type of tourists who are most desirable.

And there we have Argentina's main problem in a nutshell. Those in positions of power are more concerned with enriching themselves than with the interests of the state and the people, to a stupidly short-sighted, and short-term extent. The long con always pays more over time than the short con. Always. Smash and grab is for uneducated, small-minded amateurs.

 

[earlyretirement]

No worries about reposting. I don't think it's ever a bad idea when good information is shared.

I've been living and working in Buenos Aires for over 20 years now. These robberies have been going on for a long long time. I don't know if it's other watches (probably) but I personally know at least 15 people that have had the same thing happen and all of them only were wearing Rolex and Cartier's.

I'm not sure why the police don't do a sting operation other than the police are some of the most corrupt people on the planet. A travel agency got robbed. They called the police and then when the police came, the company found out that the police officers robbed what the thieves didn't take. They got it on camera in the hallway (idiot police).

Here is the article about the police robbing the place that just got robbed - https://www.odditycentral.com/news/...n-one-day-once-by-robbers-then-by-police.html (Such is life with the police in Argentina).

This is why many locals don't even bother reporting it to the police once they get robbed.

Thieves don't care about being short-sighted. They only care about today and lining their pockets today. That's always how it's been in Argentina for as long as I've been coming here. Heck, not even thieves but many people in general I've found eventually "exit scam" you. I've seen it happen time and time again with many professions. Even dependable and honest architects that I've done business over many years have scammed people eventually as their financial situation got desperate. I've seen people in their same families scamming people.

Times are tough. I've noticed more and more crime. I've never seen it this bad even since the last big crash it wasn't this bad. A few weeks ago I saw 4 different thieves getting arrested in different parts of Recoleta and Palermo. This was just in one day.

It will most likely get worse.

Just 2 weeks ago one of my wife's friend whose husband owns a money transport business hauling around cash. He has been doing this for the past 20 years and never gotten robbed. But just a few weeks ago he finally got robbed at gunpoint. It was obvious that someone from the property closing where he was picking up money called and gave thieves the details of the cash. It was his first time in 20+ years of getting robbed. People are desperate now.

People have always been desperate in Argentina but I've never seen it worse than now. I still feel comfortable walking around and I don't have any issues with my iPhone, etc. But I'm very aware of my surroundings. I've seen more homelessness, more violence and crime. I doubt it will get better any time soon no matter who is elected President.

And this is a true shame as I love Argentina so much. And it will always be "home" to me. People ask me who will win President. I tell them I have no clue as everyone you ask has a different answer and no one has a clue. But ultimately it doesn't matter because Argentina is just a messed up country.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, fundamentally things will never change too much. In between relative periods of calm there will always be chaos there. Short of a country invading Argentina and forcing them to change the labor laws, tax laws, judicial system reform...... nothing will ever change long term.

The laws are idiotic for the most part. There is far too much corruption. Anyone that owns a company there knows the labor law system is totally broken. Any company that pays all the legitimate taxes can't make money. So net net? Argentina can't fundamentally improve itself over the long haul. The rich will get richer. The poor will always stay poor and the middle class is disappearing completely.