‘Strongly radicalised’ jihadist arrested in Cambrils, Catalonia

‘Strongly radicalised’ jihadist arrested in Cambrils, Catalonia

According to a statement from the force, an alleged jihadist was detained by the National Police in the Tarragona municipality of Cambrils last Wednesday, December 1. Profiling experts in the fight against terrorism reported that this detainee fits one of the most difficult profiles to locate.

He lived a quiet life as a farmer, and never mixed socially with the Muslim communities. But, he was very active online, where he devoted his time to radicalising and indoctrinating others to follow a jihadist path.

An operation that had been launched more than one year ago was carried out by the Information Commission under the coordination of the Prosecutor’s Office and the National Court. Officers were deployed in Tarragona on Wednesday, during which the operation came to its conclusion with the arrest of this individual.

The police operation had been initiated after two men had been detained in May 2020, and who were subsequently convicted recently in Cuidad Real. During the operation that snared those two, another 38-year-old man of Maghreb origin had been detected in Cambrils. He was believed to be working online to radicalise followers.

Cambrils had been the location in 2017 where five terrorists were killed after trying to bypass a Mossos d’Esquadra police control. Months of painstaking investigations eventually led to this week’s arrest of the man in Cambrils, who officers said, “exercised an intense radical activity in social networks”.

During the investigation, it was found that the detainee was also in contact with members of terrorist groups in the Middle East. A judge in Court No2 of the National High Court sent the detainee to provisional prison without bail, for crimes of active and passive indoctrination.

Sources explained to lavanguardia.com that the detainee had been arrested for his physical and virtual activities, but that there was no indication that he was planning any type of terrorist attack. His actions were to try and teach others how to carry out executions of terrorist organisations. A pen drive containing jihadist-related information was discovered during a search of his home, but no type of weapon or explosive material was found.

According to data collected by the Ministry of the Interior, this arrest brings the total number of jihadists arrested in Spain during 2021 to 21. Altogether, 38 suspected jihadists have been arrested, nine in Catalonia, which makes it the autonomous community with the most arrests of this type. Madrid has five, and Murcia with four.

🚩 Detenido en #Tarragona un #yihadista que estaba fuertemente radicalizado con el objetivo de adoctrinar a nuevos adeptos

Ejercía gran actividad en #redessociales y mantenía contactos frecuentes con terroristas asentados en zona de conflicto#SomosTuPolicía #EstamosPorTi pic.twitter.com/Xr8OvdOFuE

— Policía Nacional (@policia) December 3, 2021

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