Pedraja is 63 years old and, due to his expertise in the subject, he was known by the nickname “the master boquetero”.
According to Argentine media, he was in charge of technically design underground access that would allow them to reach bank vaults without being detected.
The investigators maintain that he lived in the Buenos Aires town of Ezpeleta and that he already had history of similar thefts.
According to reports The Nationwas a key member of the gang that robbed the Mercado Modelo branch of Banco Pan de Azúcar on December 31, 1992.
For that case he was confined in the Santiago Vázquez prison, but he managed to escape in 1996. Months later he was searched again by the Argentine Police, who identified him as one of the alleged members of an organization that carried out a millionaire robbery of the Banco de Crédito Argentinoin Buenos Aires.
Years later, in 2016, he reappeared in the Uruguayan police chronicles after being identified as one of those responsible for building a tunnel to try to access the Colón branch of Banco República, in Montevideo. According to an investigation by The Countryuntil that moment had been investigated by 16 seizures, thefts and robberiesthe last of which was committed in 2002.
In the case of Banco Provincia de Baradero, the plan was to start drilling from a house next to the bank branch on Laprida Street, whose backyard bordered the sector of the vaults.
Throughout his criminal career, the Uruguayan has been investigated for crimes in Flores, Lavalleja, San José, Canelones, Maldonado and Montevideoreported Underlined (Channel 10).
The arrest of the organization in Argentina
In the last few hours, the Argentine Police reported on the dismantling of a criminal gang that planned to carry out two million-dollar robberies against branches of Banco Nación and Banco Provincia de Buenos Aires during the long weekend of June 15.
The organization was dismantled before carrying out the coups and ended with 12 people arrestedin addition to the seizure of weapons, vehicles, demolition tools and communication equipment.
According to the investigation, reported by the Argentine media Clarín, the gang aimed to access the vaults, safe deposit boxes, dollars and gold ingots stored in bank branches located in Moron and Baradero.
The investigation indicates that the alleged leader of the organization is Carlos Daniel Maidanaa former member of the Argentine Federal Police who was expelled from the force in 1995 and who has a history of kidnappings for extortion.
During the arrest procedures, they were seized three vehicles used by the organization, drilling tools, balaclavas, cell phones, cash, two 9 mm caliber firearms, ammunition and communication equipment.
Now the Argentine Justice seeks to determine the degree of participation of each of the members of the organization and if there were collaborators within the organizations. banking entities that provided information to plan the robberies.
