The appointment of Carlos Tonelli Banfi — until recently just Tonelli — to head the Airport Security Police (PSA) has reawakened old internal resentments and raised questions about his background, both in the former Federal Intelligence Agency (AFI) and in recent roles within the force itself.
The official's arrival, accompanied by the recycling of old figures from Kirchnerist intelligence and a scheme of non-transparent purchases, generates unease in sectors that expected a more technical profile, less conditioned by judicial precedents or internal ties.
In a context where the PSA faces growing challenges — drug trafficking on regional flights, irregular entries into sterile airport zones, and the proliferation of criminal technology — the duplicate acquisition of sensitive software has become an uncomfortable symbol of administrative opacity.
As one consulted official noted, “if state intelligence buys the same thing twice, it's not intelligence: it's a symptom.”
Thus, Tonelli takes control of the PSA with a heavy backpack: political distrust, open judicial precedents, a recent history of controversial purchases, and the continuity of a circuit of operators that had already generated controversies in previous administrations.
Within the PSA, they are asking whether this is sloppiness, an unnecessary deal, or an operation to favor certain suppliers, especially since the software was already fully operational in the corresponding area.
Tonelli's appointment, compounded by this episode, occurs in a climate of growing sensitivity within the Ministry of Security, where Minister Alejandra Monteoliva seeks to reorganize the structure and prevent leaks that could compromise complex investigations.
The phenomenon was described within the force as “the complete move of the old structure to the PSA,” a sign that the threads of power are being rearranged, but not cut.
The technical background highlights the discomfort: Intelectus, designed to analyze phones, computers, social networks, public databases, and judicial documents, is an efficient tool when properly integrated.
The predominant reading in official circles is that Gallardo “was not controllable” and that political leadership was seeking a more aligned profile.
Tonelli — who joined the AFI during the Mauricio Macri government, in sensitive areas linked to terrorism and special events — is mentioned, only as Tonelli, in cases investigating alleged illegal espionage.
However, what generates the most noise in the force is not just his track record, but an episode that surprises with its administrative singularity, which Total News Agency sources ironically described as “a capricious fact”: the purchase of the same intelligence software twice, a maneuver that in other state areas could be compared to buying two identical cars to park one in front of the other.
The operation involves the purchase of the Intelectus system, a forensic analysis tool widely used to track criminal links, integrate large volumes of data, and reconstruct complex networks of drug trafficking, money laundering, and corruption.
Despite this, his rise within the PSA structure was steady, and in January of this year, he took over as Director General of Complex Airport Security.
Carla Apicella, former Secretary of Human Resources and Administrative Management of the National Criminal Intelligence Directorate (DNIC), a historically Kirchnerist figure and now a permanent fixture at the PSA, became Tonelli's private secretary.
According to internal sources, Apicella managed “reserved” meetings with Poczynok and Tonelli himself, consolidating an operational bridge that silently accompanies every move of the new director.
The recommendation is said to have come from the current Chief of Staff, Fernando Kusnier — who, curiously, is in the same business along with his partner Alejandro Guelman — which fueled speculation about a closed circuit of suppliers with cross-connections in the market of technological solutions for state intelligence.
Meanwhile, the force awaits concrete definitions on how criminal airport intelligence will be reorganized and whether the new leadership will bet on professionalizing the structure or will deepen a model where friendships and ties weigh more than transparency.
