The Governmental Control Agency and the City Police carried out an operation in Once that ended with the closure of ten businesses and a gallery linked to the buying, selling, or repair of used cell phones. The agents seized 75 phones, as well as modules, spare parts, and tools whose origin needed to be verified.
Inspections reached businesses in Corrientes at 2100, Junín at 300, the La Juanita gallery on Pueyrredón Avenue 9, La Internacional on Corrientes 2330 and La Recova, located at the intersection of Azcuénaga and Pueyrredón. These areas are part of the zones that the Buenos Aires government considers highly critical due to the concentration of complaints, recoveries, and violations related to used equipment.
At the 47 location of La Recova, 22 cell phones, 79 modules, and welding tools were seized. Some devices had active theft reports registered with the National Communications Entity. During the procedure, a customer arrived to request the repair of a device that was listed as stolen; the Justice decided to charge her along with the person in charge of the establishment.
The accusation opens an investigation and does not by itself determine criminal responsibility. Likewise, an administrative closure and the preventive seizure of merchandise do not automatically prove that all goods or merchants were linked to crimes. It is up to the administrative and judicial authorities to determine the origin of the equipment and the individual conduct of the people involved.
The deployment was carried out after Decree 295/26 by Jorge Macri, which declared an emergency for 90 days in the marketing and repair of used cell phones. The regulation provides for a traceability registry, extraordinary controls, and the obligation to prove the legitimate purchase or possession of phones, parts, and spare parts. It also temporarily suspends new authorizations and expansions of activity in areas defined as critical.
The first intervention areas are Retiro–Microcentro, Balvanera–Once, Liniers–Western Limit, and Chacarita–Villa Crespo. The Once operation constitutes an initial application of the new scheme, but it does not yet allow for evaluating its permanent results on the illegal market. That measurement will require knowing the progress of the cases, the destination of the goods, and the evolution of thefts and recoveries during the 90 days.
