Global Courant
In court they knew him as “Soldier” (soldier, in English) and no one knew much about his life. Only that he was from the west of the Conurbano and would dedicate himself to the wholesale sale of sweets in the Once area. “But he liked the seedy 2.0,” says another resident of what is considered the “mecca” of streetball in Buenos Aires, something like “the pasture of basketball,” just a few meters from Caballito station on the Sarmiento train line.
Martín “Cuchara” Escucharini (29), on the run since July 2020 because he was part of a gang that used police uniforms for robbery and kidnapping, fell two weeks ago on the small field where he used to play three-on-three basketball games played.
In reality, a brigade of the Argentine Federal Police (PFA) Homicide Squad, which was responsible for his arrest, located him there and launched an operation to arrest him.
“It turned out that there were four police officers in plain clothes and he went to the Chinese supermarket next door,” says one of the investigators. He continues: “He grabbed a soda and walked between the shelves pretending to be a normal customer. As he walked slowly, the brigade came in and held him at the checkout.”
Oyerini was the only fugitive from an eight-member gang that, disguised as police officers, faked the arrest of two residents of the Las Catonas neighborhood, a monoblock complex in Moreno, in June 2020. They put her in a Citroën Berlingo and a Peugeot Partner and took her to the entrance of one of their houses. The other stayed in one of the cars.
The homeowner was hit in the head with the butt of a gun and forced to open the door. His family was inside. According to the complaint, the gang stole four smart TVs, seven cell phones, a Honda Tornado motorcycle and cash. In criminal parlance, the modality is called a “sham operation” and its main victims are usually thieves or drug dealers.
Martín “Cuchara” Escucharini is accused of committing robberies disguised as a police officer.
Although in this case, according to the Fiscal Instruction Unit (UFI) 2 of Moreno-General Rodríguez, led by Carina Saucedo, the members of the family attacked do not have a criminal record. But there is something that is at least strange: what would motivate a gang of eight thieves wearing bulletproof vests and police uniforms to attack a resident of a block complex?
Minutes after the Las Catonas robbery, the tracking beacon on one of the cars showed an address for Moreno. The information suggested that the gang had carried out a criminal raid: they stole a truck to continue the theft.
The Buenos Aires police arrived at the scene and found part of the gang. They arrested all but one of those present. But in the van, in addition to weapons, vests and police clothing, they also kidnapped the fugitive’s DNI: Martín “Cuchara” Escucharini.
Martín “Cuchara” Escucharini and his high school past.
It is believed he had come into contact with police during his first months and year as a refugee. Or at least he was unwelcome among the residents of Buenos Aires. After the defendant was identified, UFI 2 decided to entrust the search to the PFA homicide squad.
The last name sounded familiar to the department. In 2018, they had received another request: the arrest of Escucharini’s mother and aunts as part of a case for “illicit connection to a real bankruptcy with fraud to the detriment of the State, repeated in 78 cases, and the use of a false public instrument “.
His mother, imprisoned in Moreno
Lilian, his mother, was held in Moreno Parish. Her position was as a delegate of the Union of Civil Personnel of the Nation (UPCN) in that party. She was sent to Los Hornos Unit 8, where she attempted suicide in 2020. They accused her of being the leader of an association that entered applicants into the Moreno School Council’s applicant registry.
Thanks to their efforts, they were selected to cover unnecessary substitutions. In this way, the people appointed as deputies were paid without providing services to the provincial state. 77 contracts were reviewed that would have lasted between 2015 and 2018.
Martín “Cuchara” Escucharini is accused of committing robberies disguised as a police officer.
The same investigators who arrested the three women of the family went looking for “Cuchara”. They searched his girlfriend’s house (in Las Catonas) and his, Merlo’s. It was proven that he had a military background, having graduated from military high school and traveling as a tourist through Italy, Chile, Spain and England. He had been visiting the basketball court since 2016.
Despite the arrest warrant, he never stopped promoting his activities on social networks. Although he no longer traveled abroad as before, he performed in many “ordinary” places chosen by criminals of his age: electronic music parties in clubs on the Atlantic coast (in summer) and rides on jet skis.
I also attended parties on boats leaving from Tigre, where photos are usually taken with champagne from French wineries. Although one of the investigators responsible for his arrest lowers his profile: “When we arrested him, he was wearing normal clothes. He referred to his past as a high school student, but denied having been a soldier. Of course: the guy.”, a gentleman. Very polite to us,” he concludes.
