World champion and former PSG player Angel Di Maria has been the victim of death threats. The Argentine press revealed this on Monday when his family home near Rosario was the subject of pressure from the cartels, very influential in this city.
A threatening message was thrown from a car in the early hours of Monday over the entrance to the gated community of Funes, on the outskirts of Rosario, where Di Maria has a residence. The footballer was born in this city, he started his career there and wants to finish it there, which has not escaped the drug traffickers.
“We don’t throw away pieces of paper. We throw lead and dead people”
The message was contained in a nylon bag. It read: “Tell your son Ángel not to come back to Rosario, otherwise we will ruin him by killing a member of his family. Even Pullaro (Editor’s note: the governor of the province, Maximiliano Pullaro) will not save you. We don’t throw away pieces of paper. Lead and dead people are thrown away. »
Maximiliano Pullaro, governor of the province since December, declared war on local drug trafficking some time ago. One hypothesis from investigators is that Di Maria, 36, originally from Rosario and who now plays for Benfica, is being targeted to get the maximum echo.
Last year, it was a business belonging to the in-laws of Lionel Messi, also from Rosario, which was targeted, riddled with bullets in the night, also for advertising purposes, according to the authorities. The facts also occur in the middle of a national gathering.
A big drug traffic in Rosario
Rosario, 300 km from Buenos Aires, is considered the most dangerous city in Argentina, with a homicide rate of 22 per 100,000 inhabitants, five times the national rate. A major river port for grain exports, Rosario is also a transit point for drugs from neighboring countries, which have flowed for years into local drug trafficking, involving small gangs, frequent shootings and extortions.
A wave of violence in early March saw four murders in five days, two taxi drivers, one bus driver and a gas station worker. The authorities analyze this violence as a “reaction” by imprisoned gang leaders, taking the local population hostage, against a recent tightening of their detention conditions, under the leadership of Mr. Pullaro. On Monday, the Rosario bus network was at a standstill, after another threat, targeting a bus driver.
“We feel wronged, damaged and affected because this type of violent action directly attacks the economy and the sporting success of the clubs,” lamented the Rosario Central club.