Five suspected jihadi terrorists arrested in Barcelona and Madrid
High Court orders four of those arrested to be sent to prison
BarcelonaSpanish National Police has arrested five suspected jihadi terrorists in Barcelona and Madrid. According to court sources, the operation has been carried out by Spanish National Police offices under the orders of the High Court. Four of the detainees have already appeared before judge Joaquín Gadea, who has ordered their imprisonment. The fifth will testify in the coming days because he is already in a Catalan prison for other crimes.
The operation is related to another in January this year in which three alleged jihadis were arrested, one of them an alleged soldier of Islamic State from Algeria, who allegedly fought in Syria and Iraq. According to the sources consulted, the five arrested in this latest operation also have Algerian nationality.
Three of the new arrests have been made in Barcelona, the fourth is the man who was already in a Catalan prison and to whom new crimes are now attributed. The fifth has been intercepted in a detention centre for foreigners in Madrid, although he was also a resident of Barcelona metropolitan area.
Leader, recruiter and indoctrinator
Among the detainees is the leader of the group, who acted as a recruiter and indoctrinator. This man had already served a previous sentence in Algeria for acts related to the investigation. The investigators began to follow his trail following the arrests in January in Barcelona of the other three alleged jihadis. They saw that the three detainees were linked to this man.
The High Court judge, who has already questioned him, is charging him with crimes of belonging to a terrorist group, indoctrination, collaboration with an armed group and possession of weapons. According La Vanguardia, machetes and ammunition were found in one of the homes searched during the operation.
There are three more detainees who have already gone to court. In this case, the judge believes they are lower in the criminal network and accuses them of belonging to a terrorist group and collaborating with the network. The fifth detainee, who is the man who was already in prison, will soon be brought to court.
