The younger drug runners that man the refuelling RIBs (petaqueo) for filling up the drug-carrying ones for their return trip, are boasting on TikTok and belittling the efforts of the Guardia Civil and Customs officers.
In fact, they are posting threatening videos explicitly targeting the Guardia Civil’s new patrol boat, the Río Odiel, after the vessel intercepted some of their comrades. In fact, one smuggler sent a warning message saing: “Boat intercepted in Adra, snitch dogs, this launch is coming to do damage, boys.”
Last Sunday around 08.00h, a 13m drug RIB carrying 500 litres of fuel was cornered by the Guardia Civil six miles off the coast of Adra in Almería. Instead of stopping, the smugglers fled at speeds exceeding 90 km/h (50 knots), executed a dangerous manoeuver that resulted in a violent collision with the patrol boat.
The collision left three smugglers injured, including one currently in the ICU with skull fractures. The Guardia Civil’s new patrol boat sustained quite a lot of damage, including a 7cm hole in the hull that caused the vessel to take on water, effectively putting it out of commission.
Four of the arrested crew members have been sent to prison without bail, whilst the fifth will be detained upon his release from the ICU. They face charges of disobedience, assaulting authorities, illegal fuel supply, and piracy; a charge applied due to their deliberate ramming of a law-enforcement vessel.
The police unions and associations (the Guardia Civil, being a military unit, cannot have a workers union so they have an association) are strongly criticising the Ministry of the Interior for leaving officers “understaffed and under-resourced.” They warn that a total loss of authority has occurred at sea (pointing out that that drug boats no longer run away, but now actively ram and attack police) and caution that more lives will be lost if immediate reinforcements are not sent to the Almería coast.
The national sub-secretary of Institutional Relations for the police union, Jucil Almería, Rafael Maldonado, complained that “our colleagues are once again facing criminal gangs at sea with enormously powerful boats who are ready for anything, even to kill to escape,” adding, “While Guardia Civil officers risk their lives, the Government continues to deny the obvious.”
Víctor Vega Romero, Spokesperson for the Unified Association of Guardia Civiles (AUGC) Almería, maintained that, “These incidents have become common in recent times,” recalling a past event in Águilas where three officers were injured after being rammed by a drug boat, as well as an incident involving a Customs Surveillance Service (SVA) boat where another crew member was injured.
(News: Adra, Poniente, Almeria, Andalucia)
Kewords: Drug Runners, Mock, Law Enforcement, RIB, Guardia Civil Launch, Rio Odiel, TikTok, Ram
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