January 13, 2006 was not an ordinary Friday in San Isidro. As the afternoon sun reflected off the mansions of Acassuso, on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, a perfectly calm and absolutely confident Fernando Araujo gave the final nod to the rest of his team to put their plan into motion.
Araujo was no ordinary criminal. He was a visual artist and experienced jiu-jitsu instructor. He saw the financial system as a blank canvas, on which he would paint his ultimate masterpiece.
At 12.20pm, following Araujo’s instructions, a group of armed men entered a branch of Banco Río, located at the corner of Perú and Libertador streets.
The police response was swift. Within minutes, some 300 police officers were on the scene – first responders, snipers from the Grupo Halcón elite police tactical unit and patrol cars that sealed off the surrounding streets.
Within moments, the episode was being broadcast live by the news media. The entire country froze in front of their televisions. For many Argentines, memories of the 1999 'Ramallo massacre' – when a botched bank siege ended in three deaths – loomed large, heightening fears that the stand-off could end in tragedy.
Inside the bank, the criminals staged a kind of theatrical show.
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