Reports indicate that on November 15 police detained two brothers in Buenos Aires suspected of sympathizing with Hezbollah. During a raid in the neighborhood of Floresta, police found carbine rifles, shotguns, handguns, and ammunition, as well as documents with Hezbollah insignia. Official sources confirmed that the brothers flew frequently to Qatar, the UAE, and Turkey departing from Buenos Aires, raising suspicions that they might have received professional training from militant cells in the Middle East. That day police also raided a house in the San Cristobal neighborhood, detaining ten suspected anarchist activists. The latter arrests took place after anarchist militants attempted two attacks using improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in Buenos Aires on November 14. While one assailant tried to detonate a mausoleum containing the remains of a hawkish police commander in the Recoleta Cemetery, another tossed an explosive at the house of a prominent judge, located in the Coghlan neighborhood. The latter device was safely detonated by police.
In light of these incidents, we assess that there is a meaningful risk of militancy in Buenos Aires ahead of the G20 Summit on November 29-December 1. In addition to surging radical activism stemming from extreme left-wing and anarchist groups, the country faces considerable challenges posed by organized crime and the presence of Hezbollah cells in Buenos Aires and in the Tri-border-area between Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. Galat Intelligence produced a comprehensive security report of Buenos Aires ahead of the upcoming summit. Click here to view the report.