Argentine Police Arrest Threatened Murder Of Angel Di Maria's Family

Angel Di Maria received death threats (Instagram/@angeldimariajm).

JAKARTA - The Argentine police managed to arrest three people suspected of threatening the murder of Angel Di Maria and her family on Wednesday, March 27, 2024, local time.

Police confiscated cocaine-type weapons and drugs in the arrest at the home of the perpetrator named Pablo Acotto.

Argentina's Secretary of Security, Patricia Bullrich, confirmed the arrest and said the three were arrested while trying to escape the city of Di Maria, Rosario.

"Pablo Acotto, which is under investigation for drug trafficking, confessed via wiretapping."

"Then, Sara Belen Gutierrez and Gabriel Ismael Pastore were arrested by the Argentine Federal Police and Santa Fe Police as they planned to flee."

"Good work was done by Federal Prosecutors Javier Arzubi and Pablo Socca, from the Santa Fe Prosecutor's Office, which allowed us to obtain information about the person behind the threat."

"We are hunting for mafias, drug dealers, and extortion to provide security to the people of Rosario and all Argentine people," said Bullrich.

The arrest came two days after the threat of murder of Angel Di Maria's family.

Until now, Di Maria's neighborhood is closely guarded and marked in the Funes Hills Miraflores area.

Previously, it was known that Angel Di Maria's family received death threats when 36-year-old players were rumored to be returning to Argentina.

Di Maria's contract expires at the end of the season with Benfica. He plans to return to his childhood club, Rosario Central, to spend the sunset of his career.

Furthermore, even the threatener carried the name of the Governor of Rosario Province, Maximiliano Pullaro, whom he said could not guarantee the safety of the Di Maria family.

"Tell your son, Angel, not to return to Rosario because we are going to kill a family member. Even Pullaro will not deny it."

"We did not leave any paper records. We left bullets and people died," the police released the threat in Infobae.

A security guard told investigators he heard four shots from the car the suspect used to abandon the threat.

A gray Renault Megane was later found abandoned near Di Maria's residence which was caught on CCTV cameras.

Meanwhile, Public Prosecutor Pablo Socca and the head of the investigation rejected claims that the threat was part of the intimidation of hoodigans from rival club Rosario Central.

The suspects were locally described as members of a drug smuggling gang.

Authorities say they are still investigating why Di Maria and her family were threatened.

The Argentine government recently sent troops to Rosario, who is also the city of Lionel Messi, earlier this month.

They want to overcome a wave of drug trafficking and gang-related violence that has resulted in local residents being victims of terror.

"We have to figure out what motivated the threat, which could lead us to the ideology. However, we chose not to do it right now to protect our investigation."

"Two people who were in the car who left the threat against Di Maria have been arrested," said Socca.