Five men dressed as police officers take a man away by force on the AP-7

BarcelonaFive men with their faces covered, dressed in black and wearing reflective vests with the word "police" in capital letters on the back, forcibly pull a man with a bloodied face and half-dressed from the back of a car. The incident took place on the AP-7, between Montornès del Vallès and Vilanova del Vallès. It is daytime and some drivers are recording the scene, worried about what is happening right in front of them. They doubt whether the five individuals are police officers, due to the clothing they are wearing, but the aggressiveness with which they behave and the fact that they are covered up makes them suspicious. Finally, all five of them manage to get the man into another vehicle, as has been recorded in a video that has circulated on social media.

The Mossos d'Esquadra have opened an investigation to clarify these events, which took place this Saturday at 19:30 hours. They suspect it is an alleged illegal detention and the main hypothesis is that it was an act of intimidation by a group of criminals. Police sources confirm to ARA that the victim was released hours later, without specifying where or when, but that they "are safe and sound." For this reason, it will likely be the investigators of the criminal division of the Catalan police who will take charge of the case. It will also be investigated whether there is a possible crime of impersonation, given that the aggressors were wearing clothing that could make them pass for police officers. At the moment, there are no arrests or identifications.

While waiting for the investigation to progress and the nature of the events to be confirmed, however, there are precedents of criminal groups linked to drug trafficking in Catalonia that have resorted to violence and holding people for hours as a method of intimidation. For example, to pressure them or demand the payment of debts.