Series Baby Bandito is inspired by a very real “heist of the century” in Chile, as is Kevin’s escape. But everything else is very fictional.
Crime series inspired by real events are definitely legion on Netflix since the beginning of 2024. We count The Kidnapped Truthdocumentary about a sordid true story, and The Boy and the Universea semi-autobiographical family drama at the heart of drugs, or even Griselda, inspired by the life of a Colombian trafficker. But now a newcomer tickles Griseldain second place: Baby Bandito.
In eight episodes of 35 to 45 minutes, this Chilean series is none other than the story of a young skater who became a robber on the run, played by Nicolas Contreras. Here again, there is a very real topicality behind it, and a damn incredible one, even if the truth does not necessarily characterize the series.
Baby Bandito is a real bandito
The “heist of the century” in question existed, just like Kevin Olguín Sepúlveda — Kevin Tapia in the series. In 2014, he participated with his gang in the robbery of an armored van at Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport, in Santiago, the capital of Chile. In total, 10.5 million dollars (9.7 million euros), in Chilean pesos, were stolen — without a single shot being fired. Local media then highlight “ persistent flaws » in airport security. These flaws seem complex to correct, because the fact is that other robberies then took place at the same airport, in 2020 and then in 2023.
Kevin was not arrested immediately by the police. Rather, he traveled and lived a life of luxury. In 2015, Chilean television T13 reported how the young burglar posted himself copiously on Facebook with photos of his journeys and with pomp.
The European media, particularly Italian, then described him as a “baby bandito”, a term used for the title of the Netflix series.
He was finally arrested in 2016, in Spain. After his extradition to Chile, he took advantage of a temporary measure of freedom, before the trial, to flee. He was arrested again in 2018 — in possession of weapons. Sentenced to 4 years, he was finally released in 2021. Four months later, he robbed a truck transporting cigarettes. He was arrested, but without being sentenced to prison.
In 2024, there is no reliable source on his current whereabouts – the media The Cinemaholic cites an Italian media outlet, Today, with an untraceable link, to indicate that he would be in prison.
True… and false
Despite everything, this series is a thousand miles from Griselda : where the latter retraces part of the real life of the trafficker with broad freedoms, Baby Bandito does not transcribe the true course of events. It’s not a biopic.
Panda, or Felipe Munoz, Kévin’s childhood friend in the series, never existed. He is probably inspired by Kevin’s brother, Fabian, who, like Panda, was never arrested for complicity in the robbery due to lack of evidence. Likewise, the “Butchers” gang never strictly speaking existed.
As for Genesis, Kevin’s girlfriend, she exists. But his entire life told in the series is pure fiction, to the extent that that of the real Genesis is unknown.
So, Baby Bandito perhaps closer to The House of Paper rather than Griselda or Narcos, because the fictionalization of the real fact has no truly documentary dimension here. But, with or without this aspect, the series in any case seems to captivate the Netflix audience. With such success, the cliffhanger of the final episode could perhaps be answered in a season 2.
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