president allende and defence minister orlando letelier were unable to communicate with military leaders. admiral montero, the navy's commander and an allende loyalist, was rendered incommunicado; his telephone service was cut and his cars were sabotaged before the "coup d’état", to ensure he could not thwart the opposition. leadership of the navy was transferred to josé toribio merino, planner of the "coup d’état" and executive officer to adm. montero. augusto pinochet, general of the army, and gustavo leigh, general of the air force, did not answer allende's telephone calls to them. the general director of the "carabineros" (uniformed police), josé maría sepúlveda, and the head of the investigations police (plain clothes detectives), alfredo joignant answered allende's calls and immediately went to the "la moneda" presidential palace. when defence minister letelier arrived at the ministry of defense, controlled by adm. patricio carvajal, he was arrested as the first prisoner of the "coup d’état".