A former member of Italy’s Red Brigades radical Marxist organization has fled house arrest in Buenos Aires, according to confirmation from Argentina’s security ministry on Wednesday. Leonardo Bertulazzi, 74, escaped from detention through an elaborate method involving the concealment of his electronic ankle monitor and a descent from a residential building.
Bertulazzi was placed under house arrest in 2024 ahead of planned extradition to Italy, where he faces a 27-year prison sentence imposed in 1987 for his involvement in the armed group and subversive activities. Argentina’s supreme court had approved his extradition in July 2025 following the rejection of a final appeal. The fugitive had initially been apprehended by Argentine authorities in 2002, though he was subsequently released and granted refugee status in 2004 before his arrest in 2024 following the revocation of that status.
According to reports citing a detective familiar with the case, Bertulazzi disabled his monitoring device by placing it inside a tube of pork along with a blood pressure monitor to maintain temperature regulation. He then used a harness and rope to descend approximately five meters from the fifth floor, ultimately landing in a vacant lot before scaling a metal gate to reach the street. Security footage timestamp indicated the escape occurred at approximately 6:01 a.m. on November 10.
Authorities discovered the abandoned ankle monitor when they detected that it had stopped transmitting movement data. Argentine security officials subsequently announced a $13,000 reward for information leading to his recapture. Bertulazzi held a senior position within the Red Brigades, the organization responsible for numerous attacks during what Italian history refers to as the “Years of Lead” spanning 1969 to 1980, most notably the 1978 kidnapping and assassination of former Prime Minister Aldo Moro.
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