BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — The “marker” lurks inside the bank, looking for people pulling large amounts of cash from a safe deposit box or bank account. The gunmen linger outside, usually on motorcycles, waiting to make their move.
For people like Carolina Piparo, eight months pregnant and carrying a purse full of cash for a down payment on her first home, gangs like these are an unavoidable risk in today’s Argentina, where the underground cash economy is fueling a frightening new crime wave.
The July 29 attack that left Piparo comatose and killed her child added to a toll of thousands of crime victims — 4,998 reported “withdrawal robberies” in the first half of this year alone, according to Louis Vicat, a security consultant.
Many victims don’t even report being robbed, because they wouldn’t be able to explain to tax agents where they got the money, says Vicat.
