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SPAIN’S Guardia Civil have claimed that they are still ‘unarmed’ one year after the killings of two officers and that drug trafficking is growing and ‘taking root in coastal towns.’
Jucil, an association that represents the rank and file, made the cry. It claimed they were fighting the narco-scourge without enough resources, putting themselves in danger.
Officers David Nuñez and Miguel Angel Gonzalez were killed on February 9 last year when their smaller Zodiac speed boat was rammed by a narco boat sheltering from a storm in the port of Barbate.
“One year later, and we are still unarmed against the drug traffickers,” said general secretary Ernesto Vilariño.
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“The situation in the area has not improved, it’s actually gotten worse. The Guardia Civil has still insufficient resources to combat drug trafficking.
“The increased sightings and fuel boats that supply the drug boats are a clear indication that the issue is spreading in coastal towns.”
While the Interior Ministry has claimed the fact that drug seizures were down in 2024 – still a staggering 150 tonnes of hash and 44 tonnes of cocaine – is evidence that overall trafficking is down, Jucil disagrees.
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The Ministry attributes the decrease to the alleged lower production of drugs in Morocco, and to the shift in trafficking routes. But the truth is that there are less seizures because there aren’t enough resources to intercept them,” the report said.
It points to the fall in street prices of these drugs as proof that drug quantities entering Spain without detection is increasing.
Jucil complained the Guardia Civil received too few patrol boats in poor conditions, which allowed narcoboats to dominate Gibraltar Strait.
Many of their vehicles have more than 250,000km and lack essential safety features for high-speed pursuits.
Jucil states that the authorities are letting them down not just in their lack of resources but also in their failure to open an inquiry into the sequence of events that led up to the deaths of Nuñez and Gonzalez a year ago.
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“At a political and hierarchical level, it is as if nothing had happened,” Vilariño said.
“The state failed its security forces. Today, we continue to fight drug trafficking in dangerous conditions and without adequate resources.”
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“We cannot allow the death of our colleagues to be forgotten, nor can we allow ourselves to mourn new tragedies in a year,” Vilariño continued.
“Drug Trafficking is a serious issue that needs to be tackled immediately, which also means recomposition. [specialised drug fighting unit] The OCON-Sur”
“Drug trafficking is destroying families, and this is due to the lack of efficient means for the agents and the lack of social commitment in the province to prevent young people from trying to make a living with something as unsafe as drug trafficking,” added Agustín Domínguez, provincial secretary of Jucil in Cádiz.
The narcos’ social media activity is becoming more brazen as they upload videos on social media of them dancing in their boats or traveling behind giant cargo ships, to avoid detection.
