Overview

• The dispute began when a plainclothes subofficer invoked Law No. 26271 for fare-free travel and refused to pay for accompanying civilians, prompting a recorded argument on the bus.
• The driver, José Manuel Villafuerte, says multiple transit officers intercepted the bus on Avenida Caquetá, closed traffic, and took him to the Monserrate police station.
• Villafuerte reports being held incommunicado for 28 hours and says he was released after a habeas corpus action.
• His attorney plans an abuse-of-authority complaint and challenges the legality of the paperwork, while a PNP Defensoría representative says the agent may have committed a serious infraction by assuming powers she did not have.
• Passenger video of the intervention spread widely online, the driver rejects accusations ranging from resistance to threats and kidnapping, and media reports differ on the officer’s identity as Teresa or Judith Cuba.