Riot at Buenos Aires Holding Cell 1: Police Officer Held as Hostage Released
Detainees took police officers hostage at Holding Cell 1 in Buenos Aires, located on Lavalle 400. The uniformed officer was released after 17:20 following hours of tension.
Hostage-taking at city police station ends with release of officer
A violent riot erupted on Wednesday at Holding Cell 1 of the Buenos Aires City Police, located at Lavalle 400, where a group of detainees took a police officer as a hostage. According to infobae.com, the situation lasted for several hours until, after 17:20, the uniformed officer was released.
The city's Security Minister, Horacio Giménez, confirmed that the conflict originated in a fight between inmates and that initially three police officers were taken as hostages. The security force stated that there was never any risk of escapes and that no injuries were recorded.
Videos filmed by the prisoners themselves
Videos released from inside the cell, recorded by the detainees themselves, showed the police hostage sitting on a bed surrounded by his captors. The images also showed another detainee lying on the floor, allegedly injured. "Look at the 'cobani', we have him over there," said one of the inmates in the recording.
Next to him was another handcuffed man, whose relationship with the other prisoners remained unclear. In the same footage, the inmates requested the presence of a prosecutor: "Have the prosecutor come down."
Containment and negotiation operation
As the afternoon progressed, ambulances from SAME, fire brigade trucks, and a substantial police contingent were deployed to the scene. A team from the Special Operations Division of the City Police (DOEM) also entered, accompanied by psychologists and a negotiator. Later, members of the Urban Operations Containment Department (DOUC) joined them.
Around 16:00, authorities brought in a journalist from A24 to demand that television channels remove the drones flying over the area. Minutes before, a second video showed the prisoners breaking down doors and gates.
The detainees' demands
After 16:30, the partner of one of the detainees spoke to the media present. According to her, her husband had written to her shortly after 14:00: "I think there's going to be a riot today, tell my mum and my lawyer." The woman stated that he feared the uprising would worsen the sentence he could receive for the crime for which he had been detained a week ago.
Shortly before 17:00, one of the inmates spoke in a telephone call with LN+: "We have no food, we have nothing. We are waiting for someone with a proposal to see if they can take us to another holding cell with better conditions for our companions. We have no rights. We have no showers, we have no bathrooms, the food comes bad. There are 31 of us, we have one as a hostage, but the man is fine. The police officer is drinking water and smoking a cigarette."
Another detainee, who identified himself as a "cleaner" and claimed to be in charge of the other prisoners, added: "We are demanding our rights: decent showers, we bathe with bottles. This is a just cause, nobody wants benefits. The takeover is about to end, I have already released two police officers. Let them come with the judge's lever, I open the doors and release the officer." The one who said his name was Santiago Lucas Melo made clear that the prisoners do not want to be transferred to Marcos Paz prison.
The context: transfers to Marcos Paz and prison tensions
The riot occurred in the framework of the transfer of inmates from Villa Devoto prison to the new Marcos Paz prison. The Buenos Aires city government's project envisions that detainees held in Buenos Aires City police stations will also be transferred there in the future.
This is not the first time a Buenos Aires holding cell has experienced a uprising in recent years. In January 2025, City Police officers quashed a riot at Holding Cell 10 bis in the Versalles neighbourhood, on Manuel Porcel Peralta street 700. The disturbances began in cell 14, following a fight between inmates, and were controlled without injuries. The 13 detainees involved were transferred to other holding cells during the early morning hours.
That episode, in turn, occurred after the mass escape of 17 inmates on the eve of Christmas Eve 2024, from Holding Cell 9, opened in 2022 on Gana 400, in the Liniers neighbourhood. It is estimated that the fugitives escaped through a 30-centimetre-diameter hole in a hollow brick wall located in an internal courtyard.
In March 2023, a similar incident took place at Holding Cell 1 Bis, on Avenida San Juan 1700, in the Constitución neighbourhood. According to sources confirmed to infobae.com, seven detainees who had requested a transfer took a police officer hostage, who managed to escape the kidnapping unharmed. The police personnel controlled the situation and the officer was placed in safekeeping.
Source: Google News AR — Buenos Aires