Argentina: Violence Continues to Plague Rosario, Now the Country's Drug Capital

The city of Rosario, Argentina may be known as the hometown of Lionel Messi and Angel Di Maria, but it has now become the country's narco capital as drug violence continues to rise, with assassinations, threats, and gang attacks becoming more and more commonplace.

One of the most recent cases was the killing of a young father by a 15-year-old hitman in the city and this happened after unwitting authorities patched a call from drug traffickers to its collaborators on the outside. This led to the death of 25-year-old employee Bruno Bussanich.

According to the Associated Press, Bussanich was on his way home after getting his wages and was just whistling to himself. This was when he was attacked, with the teenage assailant shooting him three times at point-blank range. It was all caught in surveillance cameras, but footage showed the teen hitman fleeing the scene without taking the victim's money.

This was the fourth gang-related fatal shooting in the city in almost as many days, with Argentine authorities calling the recent spike in gang-related killings an "unprecedented rampage in Argentina."

This is chilling to many as the country itself has been noted for not having the amount of drug cartel-related violence as its neighboring South American countries or even Latin America in general, with Argentina being recognized as one of the safest countries in the entire region.

The incident has shaken many residents of Rosario, including 21-year-old Celeste Núñez, who told the Associated Press, "Every time I go to work, I say goodbye to my father as if it were the last time."

These drug gangs have also recently targeted Angel Di Maria, while another gang also targeted a business that belonged to the family of Lionel Messi's wife. The threat letter for the latter specifically targeted Messi.

Rosario Has Five Times the National Average in Homicides Compared to the Rest of Argentina

Rosario has long been the epicenter for illegal industries in Argentina, such as the drug trade since the Port of Rosario is often used to ship cocaine and other illegal drugs to other parts of the world. However, it was not until 2013 that the wave of violence increased exponentially in the city.

Insight Crime noted that the city best known as Lionel Messi's hometown recorded 259 homicides last year alone, which is about 22 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants in Argentina's third-largest city. This is five times the national average and these numbers are backed by figures from the Public Safety Observatory (Observatorio de Seguridad Pública).

Rosario Violence Posing Early Challenge to New Argentina President Javier Milei

The city of Rosario has now proven to be one of new Argentina President Javier Milei's early tests as leader, in addition to tackling the country's financial woes. This comes as more and more innocent civilians are attacked in the city.

However, instead of working with the local governments to fight crime, Milei played politics and blamed the previous left-leaning governors of Santa Fe province for "surrendering the city to criminals." Santa Fe is where Rosario is located, but Milei did deploy hundreds of federal police to the city and is working with Congress to pass a bill that would allow the military to intervene and pledged to charge gang members as terrorists.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: Argentina steps up security to fight drug violence in Rosario | REUTERS