The episodes of extreme violence in recent days in Andalusia related to drug trafficking have put the Andalusian Government on alert. The president of the Junta de Andalucía, Juanma Moreno, has requested by letter the president of the central Executive, Pedro Sánchez, to reactivate the elite unit of the Civil Guard against drug trafficking. This is the OCON-Sur, dismantled four years ago, despite the fact that when it was active it proved “effective in containing these mafias,” Moreno says in his letter.
Moreno’s request to Sánchez comes a week after on August 16 hooded men shot dead two women and a minor in Isla Cristina (Huelva) and a drug trafficking speedboat opened fire on a Civil Guard patrol boat in Huelva waters. The escalation of drug trafficking violence is taking place on the coasts of Huelva, these days full of tourists, and due to the lack of resources for the agents, denounced by professional associations such as the AUGC.
According to the Andalusian Government this Sunday, Moreno has sent a letter to Pedro Sánchez in which he expresses his “concern” about the fact that Andalusia has become “an operational base” for different drug clans and networks. “We are no longer talking about a specific region, but the entire coastline and part of the interior are targets of drug traffickers.”
For the president of the Junta, “it is urgent to take measures in the face of the rise in violence”, with the latest cases in Huelva and also the death of a man in a shooting a week ago in Utrera (Seville). “And I also want to remember David, Miguel Ángel, Germán, and Jerónimo, the four agents of the Civil Guard murdered in the last two years in Barbate and Huelva in the line of duty, trying to fight this scourge. We are facing an escalation of insecurity that requires a strong response from the State,” he stated.
“We have become familiar with the image of how, in broad daylight, drug trafficking speedboats operate and take refuge, for example, in the course of the Guadalquivir River,” Moreno recalled, referring to the fact that the traffickers’ boats, which are prohibited, not only operate on the Andalusian coast but also venture up the Guadalquivir River, where they have been spotted several times, without being intercepted by the State security forces.
In addition to reactivating the elite unit of the Civil Guard, the president of the Junta requests more resources for the agents involved in the fight against drug trafficking, given the increasing activity of the mafias, their more violent behavior, and the lack of adequate tools and resources by the various State security forces to neutralize them.
According to Moreno, the disappearance of OCON-Sur encouraged drug-related criminal activity in Andalusia. “Most experts agree that the disappearance of this unit marked a turning point in the increase in the activity of mafias and clans. Furthermore, there has been a latent complaint about the lack of resources available to agents to fight on equal terms against this challenge. Time and events have shown that the dismantling of OCON-Sur was a mistake that unfortunately is having serious consequences for our agents and our citizens.”
The fight against drugs in the Andalusian community is a matter of “utmost seriousness that generates insecurity among citizens given the evidence that these incidents are happening more frequently and with impunity” and that, moreover, has already resulted in the loss of lives of both civilians and agents, the letter states.
Likewise, Moreno has justified the need to have all possible means to fight drugs from a social perspective. “In addition to problems of insecurity and public health, drug trafficking also poses another aspect that we must face. Drug traffickers take advantage of the most disadvantaged social layers to make them part of their support, supply, and distribution networks. Therefore, it is necessary and urgent to take reinforcement measures and have sufficient resources when combating these criminal organizations.”
