Everything that is known about the alleged terrorist cell detained in Buenos Aires

Last weekend, the argentine police arrested three suspects of belonging to an alleged terrorist cell, the Ministry of Security announced this Tuesday, the 2nd. The next day, the holder of the portfolio, Patricia Bullrichoffered a press conference on the subject although he did not provide further details about the operation or the identity of the detainees.

LOOK: Argentina arrests three suspects of “planning a terrorist act”

According to Bullrich, the Argentine government received information from the Intelligence agencies of the United States, Colombia and Israel, warning about the arrival of three suspects in the country through different airports in the capital.

In response, the Federal Police and the Airport Security Police began a surveillance and prevention operation. After detecting the subjects, the authorities discovered that they intended to stay in a hotel located two blocks from the Israeli embassy in Argentina.

The second warning sign came when it was discovered that the suspects would receive a 35-kilogram international package from Yemen.

“From there, and from all the information we collected, Judge (María) Servini (in charge of the National Criminal and Correctional Court number 1) and the court secretary decided on an operation in conjunction with the detention and investigation forces. Now everything is under summary secrecy and we are not going to give the names“Bullrich noted.

The suspects, whose identities have not been revealed by the authorities, were detained at the Jorge Newbery Airport, after a flight from Colombia; in the downtown area and in the Buenos Aires town of Avellaneda, detailed the Argentine newspaper La Nación.

According to the Argentine Federal Police, the three suspects are of Syrian and Lebanese origin; However, at least one of them had a Venezuelan passport and another a Colombian one.

“If a person has a Syrian passport, a Colombian passport, a Venezuelan passport, enters with different passports, what is the real identity? What is the nationality?“Bullrich told the media after clarifying that there was no international arrest warrant against the detainees but that the investigations continue.

This Thursday the 4th, the Argentine media Página 12 reported that investigative statements have been taken from the three individuals, but that none of them have agreed to testify before Judge Servini. In addition, the suspects’ cell phones are being inspected by the Police.

– Risk factor’s –

It should be noted that the alert about this alleged terrorist cell was activated while the Pan American Maccabee Games were being held in Buenos Aires, a sporting event that brought together more than 4,000 Jewish athletes from December 27 to this Friday, the 5th.

The suspects’ alleged connection to radical movements, such as Yemen’s Houthis; In addition to the threats made against the Jewish community by organizations such as the Lebanese militia Hezbollah, the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas or even the Islamic Republic of Iran, they were decisive for the Argentine authorities to intervene.

Buenos Aires has already been the scene of two attacks against the Jewish community. In 1992, a terrorist cell allegedly linked to Hezbollah detonated a car bomb at the Israeli embassy in Argentina, killing 22 people and leaving 242 injured. Two years later, in 1994, another attack was recorded under the same modality, this time against the Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina (AMIA).

With a death toll of 85 and more than 300 injured, this last one is considered the largest terrorist attack in Argentine history.

Furthermore, on Wednesday the 3rd, the exiled Venezuelan opposition leader Julio Borges asked to pay attention to the possession of a Venezuelan passport by one of the detainees. “This is a new scandal that joins the multiple events that link Maduro with terrorist groups, we cannot forget that in Argentina during 2022 a Venezuelan-Iranian plane with connections to irregular groups in Iran was detained.”, he wrote through his account on the social network X.

The ship Borges refers to is a Boeing 747 Dreamliner registered with the number YV3531 of the Venezuelan airline Emtrasur Cargo that landed in June 2022 in Buenos Aires. On board were five Iranians and fourteen Venezuelans suspected of espionage. Initially the ship was detained until federal judge Federico Villena ordered its release due to lack of evidence.

This Wednesday the 3rd, however, the Argentine justice system accepted the request made in October 2022 by the Court of the District of Columbia, United States, to confiscate the plane and investigate it for possible links to international terrorism.