The man from Mataró expelled for jihadism recruited fighters for Daeix while cutting hair
The Civil Guard already arrested him in 2018 for being part of a Salafist cell
BarcelonaHe was 53 years old, had been living in Mataró for years, worked as a hairdresser and indoctrinated people to go and fight in Syria on behalf of Daeix. As the ARA announced on Thursday, the National Police has expelled this man from the State for being a "serious" danger to national security. The transfer, authorized by the National Court, was carried out last January, when a plane took him from Madrid to Casablanca. This Monday, the National Police has given more details of his profile.
The police had been after him for many years, to the point that in 2015 the Civil Guard already began to investigate him for having a direct relationship with different terrorist cells linked to Daeix, the main violent jihadist group along with Al Qaeda. During that time he worked in Mataró as a hairdresser and, according to police sources, he indoctrinated people to later convince them to go to fight in Syria defending the flag of the Islamic State. This figure is called a mujahid.
The man recruited future combatants in the same hair salon he ran and had several trusted addresses where he met with other jihadists. One was in Mataró, but also went to Barcelona and Tarragona. Finally, in 2018, after years of surveillance, the Civil Guard arrested him for being part of a Salafist cell operating in Catalonia.
In parallel, the General Commissariat of Immigration and Borders of the National Police initiated a sanctioning procedure under article 54 of the immigration law, which refers to the performance of activities contrary to national security.
On provisional release
However, the man was provisionally released in 2022 and returned to Mataró. Since then, the National Police have monitored all his movements and followed him closely to prevent his Islamic radicalism from evolving. During all this time, his expulsion was being administratively managed "looking for the most suitable moment", according to the police statement. However, there was a critical moment: the man's own brother-in-law went to Syria to fight with the Daeix and died in combat.
"Assessing the real danger of this asset and after numerous efforts, the National Court gave the go-ahead to expel him, so a coordinated police operation was put in place to locate, arrest and transfer him," concludes the National Police statement. Now, he is already in Morocco and has a ban on entering the Schengen area for a period of 10 years.
His transfer to Morocco has coincided with the expulsions of the imams of Figueres and La Jonquera for issuing radicalizing speechesAs reported by ARA, in 2025 the National Police will also expel a man from Terrassa and another from Zaragoza, both of Moroccan origin, for spreading Daeix propaganda through social media.