Argentinian police have dismantled a gang dedicated to vandalizing trains with graffiti. Authorities reported that these are significant arrests, as the damages not only cause economic losses for the company but also severely disrupt the service.
The Federal Investigations Department (DFI) of the Argentinian Federal Police (PFA) broke up a criminal organization in the northern part of the Greater Buenos Aires area, accused of vandalizing trains on the Mitre line with graffiti. The investigation began with a complaint from Trenes Argentinos, which reported that a group of individuals was caught on camera while painting a train at La Lucila station.
After the case was filed in court, it was handed over to the Federal Criminal and Correctional Court No. 2 in San Isidro, which entrusted the investigation to officers from the Mitre Railway Police Station. As part of the probe, various field tasks and analysis of the graffiti and its signatures («T.R.S.», «Tripas», «Naimad» and «Bonks») were conducted. For this, social networks and footage provided by the company were examined, with the assistance of the PFA's Criminal Identification Division.
The suspects were charged with aggravated damage and criminal association. It was emphasized that the damages not only generate significant economic losses for the managing company but also «cause a severe disruption to the railway service, as the removal of paint requires a meticulous cleaning process and forces the unit to be taken out of circulation, with the consequent loss of time and money».
With the evidence obtained, the Federal Criminal and Correctional Court No. 1 in San Isidro ordered three raids in the district of Tigre. «The three suspects were notified of the case, and more than 100 aerosols of various colors, 64 graffiti markers, numerous paint cans, brushes, a precision digital scale, four laptops, thirteen mobile phones, and other documentation of interest to the case were seized,» they stated.
The suspects, along with the seized items, were placed at the disposal of the presiding judge.
