Failed: Why the Pickpockets Tried Anyway

The goal for the jug troupe was a quick strike. Take the money and run. That they failed in that quest is its own story. There are at least two threads here, to which I’ve already alluded: the location of their chosen cash-in spot and my quick call to the bank.

From Crime Scene to Cash In

Let’s start with this insight from Maj. Walter Gilmour, my Butcher, Baker co-author: criminals tend to commit crimes in areas that are familiar to them. Usually close to home. By that logic, ¡Viva Mexico! and his tres compañeros likely lived somewhere in the Roma Sur neighborhood where the crime occurred.

Once the crime succeeded, it made sense for them to cash-in immediately, lest the fast-moving banking system catch up with them. Here’s where their failed decision-making first made itself known. For example, the nearest Liverpool store — if they indeed had some compelling reason to go to a Liverpool location — was 10 minutes by car from the crime scene. Surely they knew that.

Go Somewhere Else

We know, by the following text message from my bank, that this was NOT where they went.

So where is Liverpool Tezontle? Due east of the crime scene and due south of the CDMX Airport. What? That’s twenty-five minutes from the Roma Sur location. In the shots below, you see the store and then its map location. It’s a big reason they failed. As it turns out, that fifteen minute differential was a huge delta.

Why Would You Do That?

There must have been some reason they took that fifteen minute detour, apart from their apparent arrogance. If we go back to Gilmour’s “rule” — that criminals are most active in their own backyard — they were probably known in their Roma Sur playground. Known by sight, even, at places like the nearest Liverpool. Known because the pinch point happens the second they start messing with credit cards.

Hence they may have felt compelled to travel fifteen minutes farther than their nearest cash-in location. And, of course, they needed a Liverpool equivalent because where else could they rack up such huge charges? It’s also possible they had a compatriot who worked at the Tezontle location. An insider.

In any event, they were too clever by half. Because… that US$3768.96 is equivalent to MX$89,432.73. Ain’t that a sore thumb transaction? An automatic (Declined)? But even with two declines in quick succession, it was still worth a try.

The average person in Mexico typically earns MX$26,8000 per month. So even though that MX$89,432 haul would be severely discounted — it was hot merchandise and had to be fenced — each crewmember stood to bring in up to a half-month’s salary. In a single day.

I guarantee you, they’re already back at it. Today. Tomorrow. And the day after that. They get thirty chances a month to get it right. And pickpocketing is one of the hardest crimes to prosecute. You think I could point out any of them in a lineup? You think the cops would even bother? Hell, it’s almost a victimless crime.