The Civil Guard has arrested five people for their alleged involvement in the death of two agents of the Armed Institute after being attacked by a drug boat in the port of Barbate (Cádiz), according to sources in the investigation told La Vanguardia. Three of those arrested were on board the boat that took the lives of the two civil guards—and injured two other agents—and the other two detained people had traveled by vehicle to Sotogrande to pick up the crew.
One of the deceased civil guards, Miguel Ángel González, was a member of the Group of Underwater Activities Specialists (GEAS), he was 39 years old and was a native of San Fernando (Cádiz). The other, David Pérez, was born in Barcelona 43 years ago and was part of the Rapid Action Group (GAR). They were both parents: the first of a 12-year-old girl and the second of two boys aged 8 and 10.
The tragic events took place on Friday night, when six Civil Guard agents went to identify the occupants of several drug boats who had taken refuge in the port of the Cadiz city due to the storm that hit the province.
According to organizations of the Armed Institute, the lack of material means has made it common to see drug traffickers' vessels roaming freely in the ports of Cádiz. "They know that nothing is going to happen to them. Drug boats are a prohibited genre," the Cádiz anti-drug prosecutor, Ana Villagómez, denounced yesterday to the Cadena Ser microphones.
Numerous witnesses witnessed the scene, in which it was possible to observe how the drug boats and the small Civil Guard patrol boat seemed to play cat and mouse. In the videos recorded from the mainland, you can hear several people cheering on the criminals in the face of the fruitless efforts of the Civil Guard:
—Ole, ole, look, look, attack him, with two balls...
—Fuck them...
—Give it again, what a joke, they'll kill them...
Until at one point one of the drug boats runs over the patrol boat. As a result of the attack, two of the agents died. Two others were injured, one of them seriously. This last civil guard who had to be hospitalized last night is a GEAS corporal born in Terrassa who is progressing favorably from the injuries suffered and is out of danger. He has a broken arm.
The other lightly injured only required three stitches in the hospital. This is a sergeant also from GEAS, skipper of the armed institute's patrol boat in which the six civil guards were on board.
According to investigation sources, the five arrested are Spanish: the three who were traveling in the drug boat—aged 21, 24 and 28—are charged with two crimes of homicide and serious injuries to agents; while the two who were waiting on land – aged 34 and 54 – are being investigated for crimes of concealment and serious resistance.
The five, who have a string of records for drug trafficking, robberies, money laundering and attacks on law enforcement agents, are in the cells of Algeciras until they are transferred to the Civil Guard offices in Cádiz, from where they will be transferred to judicial provision. The Security Forces and Corps are looking for the crew member of the drug boat.
It so happens that on the same Friday morning, the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, had traveled to the province to launch the fourth Special Security Plan for the Campo de Gibraltar. In statements to the media, he commented that "The Campo de Gibraltar is a safer place." Not even 12 hours later, the drug traffickers have killed the two civil guards.
At around 2:00 p.m., the Minister of the Interior appeared before the media from Cádiz, after ruling out moving to Barbate, as planned last night. From there, he has promised “zero impunity” against the drug traffickers involved in the death of the civil guards. “Let the drug trafficker know that they have hit a hard spot; Every day they will be more cornered,” said the head of the Interior. Grande-Marlaska has promised that his department “will not stop implementing” material and human means to continue fighting drug trafficking in the area.
“We are not going to allow any more murders of our men,” he stated before presiding over the Technical Coordination Table in which the circumstances of the event will be analyzed. The Government delegate in Andalusia, Pedro Fernández, and the director of the Civil Guard, Leonardo Marcos, will also participate in it.
The Unified Association of Civil Guards (AUGC) has requested the immediate resignation of the head of the Interior due to "the neglect and poor management" of citizen security in the area. In a statement, AUGC deeply regrets the loss of lives during the operation carried out in Barbate, which they have described as "casting many doubts regarding its guarantees and the safety of the troops who carried it out."
For this reason, AUGC has announced that it will appear as a popular accusation in the Barbate judicial procedure, "to find out who gave the order to carry out these operations with these means and what measures will be taken."
The president of Vox, Santiago Abascal, has defended responding with "lead or lead" to the drug traffickers, after the event. "We said it and we will say it: To the drug trafficker, or lead... if we want to prevent them from dominating the country as happens with the narco-dictatorships of Latin America," the ultra leader has insisted on his account on the social network sent his "hug and recognition to the Civil Guard" and his condolences to the families of the two deceased agents.
The Barbate City Council has declared three days of official mourning for the event that occurred this Friday night. In a press release, the council expresses its concern at the tragic death of two Civil Guard agents during an operation against drug trafficking in the town.
A little over a week ago, a man traveling in a drug boat died after the boat collided with a Civil Guard patrol boat, in that case at the mouth of the Guadalquivir River, in Sanlúcar de Barrameda, in the same province of Cádiz.
