The Argentine military police filed a habeas corpus complaint decrying the “illegal” detention of a non-commissioned officer, First Corporal Nahuel Agustín Gallo, who was arrested on charges of espionage while trying to enter Venezuela on December 8.

“I demand that Venezuelan police authorities immediately release our comrade,” said Commander General Claudio Miguel Brilloni, military police director, in a communiqué released on Sunday afternoon. “We have begun joint efforts with the Americas’ Police Forces Community to try and find where and in what situation the force’s member currently is in.”

Security Minister Patricia Bullrich claimed Gallo is being held in an intelligence facility in Táchira, about 800 kilometers from Caracas. In an interview with Radio Mitre on Saturday, she said allegations that he is a spy are “stupid and unserious.”

According to his family and Bullrich, Gallo was traveling to visit his partner — a Venezuelan woman — and son, who have been living with his mother-in-law for the past seven months. Gallo currently lives in Mendoza, but his partner went to Venezuela with their child to care for her mother.

Direct flights between Argentina and Venezuela are currently banned due to restrictions issued by Nicolás Maduro’s government. The habeas corpus highlights that it is unclear who arrested Gallo when he entered the country through land. He crossed the Francisco de Paula Santander International Bridge on the border with Colombia and was taken away in an unmarked car after being interrogated.

According to the complaint filed by the Mendoza unit of the Argentine military police, Gallo had an invitation letter with him that would have allowed him to enter the country legally, in line with the current Venezuelan migratory norms. However, Venezuelan authorities took his cell phone and other belongings when he arrived at the border, and they interrogated him at least twice.

“The family does not formally know Gallo’s whereabouts, does not know why he was arrested, in what kind of place he is being held at, his health conditions, nor the case number or judge who is investigating him,” the complaint says.

Before he was arrested, Gallo spoke with his partner using a cell phone he borrowed from the driver who took him to the border, but that was the last time his family heard from him. The driver then saw him being taken away in a black car with no visible identification, the document says.

The document stated that this is “an alleged illegal arrest” that potentially violates the American Convention on Human Rights and Argentina’s Constitution, given that competent judicial authorities did not order it. Rather, it resulted from “an irregular operation” carried out by Venezuela’s executive branch. “There are currently no reasons why Gallo should be deprived of his freedom due to potential criminal actions.”

“In this alleged scenario, international norms were violated as the arrest was not immediately notified to the judiciary,” the complaint added. “The lack of notification of the arrest would mean this is an illegal imprisonment, given no judge can monitor how long it lasts or its conditions.”

The complaint also says this could constitute a violation of Gallo’s fundamental human rights, and that he could be at risk of “forced disappearance.” The Argentine military police requested the Venezuelan federal judiciary declare the arrest illegitimate and order him to be released immediately.

If the request is rejected, the force will contact international organizations to request a search order for Gallo and that they issue a criminal complaint.

The Argentine government first raised the alarm about Gallo’s detention on Friday with a joint communiqué issued by the Foreign and Security ministries. Bullrich said on Saturday that Gallo “is being held hostage” and that she is working alongside Argentine Foreign Minister Gerardo Werthein so that “this kidnapping ends and he can return to his family.”

“Implying he is a spy and that Argentina is sending a military policeman in through a legal border passage, showing his credentials, is stupid,” Bullrich said. “We would be very bad at intelligence operations if we did such a thing.”