The National Police has arrested seven people, who have already been imprisoned, and has dismantled a criminal organization that had taken control of illegal activity in the northern area of Alicante, through robberies, "squatting" of homes and drug trafficking.
The detainees, between 18 and 65 years old, were mostly in an irregular situation, without any work activity and did not hesitate to use firearms and machetes in brawls against rival gangs.
The operation, which has forced the mobilization of a large number of agents from the different Police brigades, began after a series of brawls, the first of which occurred in July, in which an Algerian citizen suffered an attack with an ax , which led him to be hospitalized.
Days later, the same perpetrators attacked him again with three vehicles and fired shots and two months later, a second brawl occurred in which the victim suffered a large cut from his ear to his neck, which was taken back to him. to the General Hospital of Alicante.
Later, a third fight between North African citizens ended with several gunshot wounds and the use of a machete.
The agents carried out a search in a building where, according to witnesses, one of the participants in the brawl had taken refuge, where they located and seized a firearm hidden in one of the mailboxes and which corresponded to an apartment that, according to statements neighbors, was "squatted."
The agents received a new report about another fight and, upon arrival, located one of the victims, who was bleeding profusely from the head and back after being involved in a fight that occurred after a group of individuals, after getting off a vehicle, began to attack several people with machetes, guns and blunt objects.
The penultimate of the events consisted of a series of episodes of threats and coercion, as well as an attempt at illegal detention caused as a result of a previous argument between the victim and two men of Algerian origin over an electric scooter that they stole from the victim.
The last event took place at a home, where several of the members posed as officials. After the residents opened the door, they used a firearm as a means of intimidation to, once inside, ask the victims to hand over all the money they had, while beating them and tying their feet and hands.
The members of the organization had a clear structure and distribution of tasks: while some were in charge of the violent actions, others were in charge of the occupations of homes in which they welcomed irregular immigrants to incorporate them into the criminal group.
Another of the tasks entrusted was the management of narcotic substances in which there were components that carried out tasks such as storage, distribution and sale of the drug. The Police have detailed that the criminals maintained a constant connection with France and used the province of Alicante as a bridge between Algeria and the French country.
Finally, after a notification to the National Police that several shots were being fired in the northern area, the agents verified that the victim had suffered a gunshot wound to the leg and the emergency services were immediately alerted, which They took this person to the hospital. They discovered that the victim was a member of the criminal organization and had participated in two of the violent events investigated, for which she was detained upon leaving the hospital.
The organization had a clear structure and distribution of tasks: while some were in charge of the violent actions, others were in charge of the occupations of homes in which they welcomed irregular immigrants to incorporate them into the criminal group.
In the searches carried out in the homes, 17 kilos of ecstasy pills were seized; large quantity of benzodiazepines and the like subject to a medical prescription, four firearms with ammunition and six machetes.
They are charged with crimes of belonging to a criminal group, injuries, illegal detention, robbery with violence and intimidation, illegal possession of weapons, favoring illegal immigration and drug trafficking. All of them have been placed at the disposal of the Alicante Court of Investigation, which decreed immediate imprisonment for all of them.
