The National Police has arrested in Barcelona, with the collaboration of the American FBI, three leaders of a gang linked to the 'Barrio 18 Gang', which operated with "a radical and violent structure" especially in the Barcelona district of Nou Barris. and in the metropolitan municipality of L'Hospitalet de Llobregat.
The police reported this Sunday in a statement that the detainees are accused of the crimes of belonging to a criminal organization, injuries, threats and illicit possession of firearms.
The police operation remains open under the direction of the Court of Instruction number 25 of Barcelona with the participation of agents from the General Information Commissariat (CGI), the Provincial Information Brigade of Barcelona and the presence of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). US.
The three arrested, the statement explains, led a new group of the 'Barrio 18 Gang' or 'Calle 18' and carried out "proselytizing work" for new members in Nou Barris and L'Hospitalet to "occupy the space left by a similar structure dismantled by the National Police in the city of Barcelona" in February 2023 with the so-called Safeguard operation.
The investigation of this case began in October 2023 when the agents learned of a series of threats and attacks on citizens of American origin in various parts of Barcelona by people who presumed to be members of the 'La 18' gang.
The agents then verified that the detainees were leading what in gang slang is called a "cancha" or "clica" of the 'Calle 18' gang to establish themselves in Barcelona.
Last Wednesday, at dawn, a police device was deployed in which the three leaders of the group were arrested and two home searches were carried out, in which a handmade firearm usually used by this type of gangs, known as 'Chilean', in addition to 12 gauge ammunition and band symbols.
The attempt to create this new group occurred after in February 2023, the National Police arrested seventeen people linked to the 'Barrio 18 Gang', in what was the first operation carried out in Spain against this transnational organized group. which has a hierarchical, structured organization with very defined roles.
The National Police recalls that it is currently integrated into the team called the International Group Against Transnational Organized Crime (GICCOT), in which it works jointly and coordinated with various agencies to fight against the phenomenon of international criminal gangs that operate at the international level. global.
