The Special Plan of Security of the Field of Gibraltar has allowed the seizure of more than 216,446 kilos of drugs in the region since its commissioning in august 2018 until last November 30. Specifically, the National Police and the Civil Guard have seized 207,040 kilos of hashish, 8,069 of cocaine, 835 of marijuana and 501 of heroin. Agents have also seized 1,083,418 packs of smuggled tobacco.
Thanks to the police reinforcement and the improvement of security conditions, the State Security Forces and Bodies have carried out a total of 7,133 arrests in the area in 18 months, among them important leaders of drug trafficking organizations.
In the course of the various operations, agents of the State Security Forces and Bodies have also seized 1,062 vehicles used to transport illegal goods, of which 221 are vessels, mainly semi-rigid speedboats dedicated to drug trafficking.
The Gibraltar Special Field Security Plan includes a set of measures to improve citizen security through actions and objectives in the short and medium term that was implemented in August 2018. During a visit to the Campo de Gibraltar, the acting Interior Minister, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, was able to see first hand the work of the State Security Forces and Corps, their needs and the security demands of the inhabitants of Campo de Gibraltar.
Following this analysis, a series of measures were adopted in response to the significant deterioration of objective security conditions in the area due to the impact of drug trafficking and violent behaviors linked to the activity of organized crime groups, some of them directed against the members of the State Security Forces and Bodies themselves.
This situation, maintained for years, as denounced by the State Security Forces and Bodies together with numerous groups, neighborhood platforms and mayors of the municipalities of Campo de Gibraltar, had caused the erosion of the principle of authority and the consequent sense of impunity. by drug traffickers.
Personnel and material reinforcements
The extraordinary initial budget of the Plan was 7.03 million euros until December 2018, to which 17 million euros were added for 2019. Within the measures adopted, the reinforcement with 356 National Police agents (152) and Civil Guard (204) that have been incorporated into all the municipalities of the region. Similarly, there has been an increase and update of the material and technological means to combat drug trafficking and smuggling.
In addition to detentions and seizures, personnel and media reinforcements have favored a considerable reduction in the number of violent episodes against members of the Security Forces and Bodies on the occasion of their actions against organized crime groups.
The reinforcements have also allowed increasing inspections of suspicious containers in the port of Algeciras and reinforcing the transfer and custody of seized media and substances.
Estate Investigations
Another of the main axes of action within the framework of this Special Plan of Security of the Field of Gibraltar is the strengthening of the patrimonial investigations against drug trafficking organizations and the fight against money laundering linked to its activity.
In this area, structural measures have been implemented such as the creation of new specialized groups in these investigations as well as the increase of the special groups against organized crime both in the National Police and in the Civil Guard.
The result of these measures has been the reinforcement of police capacities in wealth investigation and money laundering that has led to numerous operations against financial apparatus and has succeeded in weakening the economic support structures of drug trafficking organizations operating in the region of Campo de Gibraltar.
Likewise, the Plan implies a reinforcement of the operational intelligence capabilities, as well as the coordination of the competent Bodies in the region and their cooperation with other organizations and institutions. In this sense, various coordination bodies have been set up of which National Police, Civil Guard, Customs Surveillance and responsible for Local Police Bodies are part, as well as a Regional Technical Board and a Technical Table of the Line of the Conception. Numerous coordination meetings have also been held with the judicial authorities and the Fiscal Ministry, as well as with the associative fabric of the region.
In its first year of application, until last July 31, the Gibraltar Field Special Security Plan had resulted in the seizure of 149 tons of drugs and the arrest of 4,852 people.