The commanders of the Mossos d'Esquadra consider that spy programs such as Pegasus and Candiru, which were used to spy on Catalan political leaders and the rest of the State through their mobile phones, are especially useful in police investigation tasks, therefore, They have assured that it is a technology that they would like to use in their work to fight crime. "It is a technology that we study and value," according to chief commissioner Eduard Sallent.
Sallent has appeared alongside his predecessor, Josep María Estela; the head of criminal investigation, Ramon Chacón; and that of the Information area, Carles Hernánez in the investigation commission on the espionage of political representatives with Pegasus and Candiru, created in the Parliament of Catalonia, where they have shown themselves in favor of having this type of tools for their investigations. Of course, clarifying that the police do not spy, but rather investigate to the fullest extent of the law, and in the case of the use of listening and monitoring programs, with the corresponding judicial endorsement.
This type of spyware would be used in the fight against organized crime and terrorism, although always under judicial protection and guaranteeing its traceability and audit, Sallent pointed out.
The chief commissioner has commented that currently, the Mossos do not have the Pegasus program or similar systems, but they do have telephone intervention methods, both for monitoring conversations and for emptying content from the terminals, but he has insisted in that any of these interventions is always carried out under judicial protection, "as it cannot be otherwise."
The chief commissioner has commented that mobile phone infiltration programs are expensive, since they cost between three and four million euros, but he has conditioned their use on the traceability and audit guarantees that they can offer, with the aim that a judge can validate them as evidence. It would be, as he explained, to demonstrate to the judge who authorized its use that there have been no "lone wolves" within the police force who have used the program for purposes other than those authorized.
Both Sallent and the rest of those appearing have said they do not know whether the program has been used or not in Catalonia, beyond the information that appeared in the media and the judicial cases opened in this regard, but they have stressed that, in the case of the Mossos , there are "red lines" that cannot be crossed, so the police investigation is and must be done "with all the tools" that they can legally use, and always "under judicial protection."
In this sense, Sallent's predecessor in office, Josep María Estela, has stated that the Mossos would like to have the maximum number of tools for their investigations, also with systems like Pegasus, because they are investigation methods that can be useful. to deactivate organized crime and terrorism. "We do not live in the world we want, but in the one we have," he justified.
The Chief Commissioner of Criminal Investigation, Ramon Chacón, has expressed himself along the same lines, assuring that any European police force would agree that programs like Pegasus are for now "the best tool" to be able to investigate and that their high cost is "very justified." . That is why he has demanded to be able to have this type of tools.
"It is a fact. We have organized crime and we are very concerned about violence, drug trafficking and arms trafficking. We do need these types of tools. If we spoke to any investigator from any European police force they would tell us that it is the best tool to investigate at this time," said the head of Criminal Investigation.
Chacón has also clarified that none of the independence leaders who would have been spied on with this system have filed any complaint with the Mossos, although he has confirmed that he knows that five of them have gone to court, where four courts currently have cases. open in which they have been ordered to do some errands.
For his part, the head of the Information area has agreed with his colleagues that "the more tools we have, the better we will do", and in the case of these spy programs, "the problem is not the tool" but "how it is used." ". "If it does not guarantee traceability or auditing, it is not a good tool", he concluded.
In any case, Hernández has assured that he is "very calm" with the system used by the Mossos because "it guarantees that it is used with judicial authorization and then with an internal protocol."
