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, 2. The following day, the holder of the license, Patricia Bullrichheld a press conference on the matter, although he did not provide further details about the operation or the identity of those detained.

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

According to Bullrich, the Argentine government received information from intelligence agencies in 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, 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.

The hotel where the three suspects would meet is just two blocks from the Israeli embassy in Argentina. (Argentine Federal Police via AFP/)

“From there, and from all the information we collected, judge (María) Servini (responsible for the National Penal and Correctional Court number 1) and the court secretary decided on an operation together with the detention and investigation forces. Now everything is under confidential confidentiality and we will not disclose the names” Bullrich noted.

The suspects, whose identities were not revealed by authorities, were detained at Jorge Newbery Airport, after flying from Colombia; in the city center and in the Buenos Aires city 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, Colombian passport, Venezuelan passport, enters with different passports, what is their true identity? What is the nationality?“Bullrich told the media after clarifying that there was no international arrest warrant for those detained, but that investigations continue.

This Thursday, the 4th, the Argentine media outlet Página 12 reported that investigative statements were withdrawn from the three individuals, but that none of them agreed to testify before Judge Servini.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

Despite not having an international arrest warrant, investigations into the suspects continue, mainly analyzing the cell phones they possessed. (Argentine Federal Police via AFP/)

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

The suspects’ alleged connection to radical movements, such as the Houthis in Yemen; 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 intervention of the Argentine authorities.

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 injuring 242. Two years later, in 1994, another attack of the same type was recorded, this time against the Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina (AMIA).

With 85 dead and more than 300 injured, the latter is considered the biggest terrorist attack in Argentine history.

Furthermore, on Wednesday, the 3rd, the exiled Venezuelan opposition leader Julio Borges called for 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 to terrorist groups, we cannot forget that in Argentina during 2022 a Venezuelan-Iranian plane with links to irregular groups in Iran was detained.”, he wrote through his account on the social network X.

View of the Boeing 747-300 registered with number YV3531 of the Venezuelan airline Emtrasur Cargo at the international airport of Córdoba, Argentina, on June 6, 2022. (SEBASTIAN BORSERO/)

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 court accepted the request made in October 2022 by the Court of the District of Columbia, in the United States, to confiscate the plane and investigate it for possible links to international terrorism.

Source: Elcomercio