Federal police arrested the author of the bomb threats against the Israeli and U.S. Embassies on Wednesday morning. The Antiterrorist Investigations Unit raided the man’s home in Don Torcuato, Tigre, and immediately arrested him on charges of “public intimidation.” 

According to Télam, the man — the identity of whom has not been revealed — denied sending any threatening emails.

A police press release explained that the arrest was part of an investigation after several embassies received intimidating email in early October. Including Wednesday’s bomb threats, the targeted embassies were Israel, U.S., Canada, the United Arab Emirates and Iran as well as the European Union Delegation in Argentina. The messages also included threats toward specific diplomats.

The Federal Police swept social media and conducted several home searches, determining that the IP address used by the e-mail account sending the messages matched the one of the suspect’s home. There, they confiscated cell phones, laptops, USB flash drives, and other digital storage devices as evidence.

On Wednesday morning, the Israeli Embassy and surrounding buildings were evacuated and a federal bomb squadron conducted a search. However, they did not detect any explosive devices, according to police sources.

Police blocked off the streets surrounding the Israeli Embassy, which is on Avenida de Mayo two blocks from Plaza de Mayo, and a police helicopter was flying over the area.

The U.S. Embassy, on the other hand, was not evacuated because there were no credible threats, the embassy told the Herald.

The bomb threats came 11 days after Hamas, the militant group that rules the Gaza Strip, launched a ground and air attack on Israel. Israel responded with air strikes and a complete blockade of Gaza.

On July 18, 1994, 85 people were killed and 300 wounded in the bombing of the Argentine–Israeli Mutual Association (AMIA), an important Jewish community center in Buenos Aires. Two years before that, the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires had also suffered a bombing attack that killed 22 people.

—with information from Télam