10 Feb, 2024 @ 13:16
1 min read

PICTURED: Police officers and fathers ‘killed by drug traffickers in Cadiz’ – as furious Guardia Civil leaders demand the resignation of Spain’s Interior Minister

THESE are the two Guardia Civil officers who were last night killed when their patrol boat was rammed by a ‘narco launcher’ in southern Spain.

David Perez and Miguel Angel Gomez were attempting to detain the drug-trafficking vessel in the choppy waters of Barbate port in Cadiz.

Video footage shared online showed the narco boat trying to evade them as locals cheered them on from the shore.

Miguel, 39, from San Fernando, Cadiz, belonged to the specialist subaquatic GEAS force. He leaves behind a partner and their daughter.

Tragic: Miguel Gomez (left) and David Perez (right) were killed in the line of duty on Friday

David, 43, from Barcelona, belonged to the elite Rapid Action Force (GAR) and leaves behind a wife and two children, reports sources from the Guardia Civil.

READ MORE: Revealed: How a narco gang moved cocaine from Marbella to Britain in broccoli and cauliflower shipments

His body will be transferred to Navarra, where his family will lay him to rest.

A third agent was also hospitalised in the incident but is now said to be out of danger, reports La Voz de Cadiz.

There have been a total of five arrests. Three men who were driving the narco launcher, aged 21,24 and 28.

They have prior convictions and are now facing homicide and other serious charges.

Meanwhile, two other men, also known to authorities, aged 34 and 54, have also been arrested.

They were believed to have been preparing to pick up the drivers of the vessel from the port.

It is believed that the rough seas brought on by Storm Karlotta yesterday were forcing drug boats to come to shore to take cover.

They usually remain in the high seas, where they collect their bales of hashish and other drugs before ferrying them to Spanish shores.

Interior Minister of Spain Fernando Grande-Marlaska visited the scene of the incident on Saturday morning.

But Guardia Civil groups are now calling for him to resign following the latest deaths.

They claim they have been demanding more resources to tackle the scourge of drug trafficking in the Campo de Gibraltar area for the past five years.

The Association of Guardia Civil Officers said it warned the government that it was only a matter of time before agents lost their lives in the ongoing war against drugs.

Laurence Dollimore

Laurence Dollimore is a Spanish-speaking, NCTJ-trained journalist with almost a decade’s worth of experience.
The London native has a BA in International Relations from the University of Leeds and and an MA in the same subject from Queen Mary University London.
He earned his gold star diploma in multimedia journalism at the prestigious News Associates in London in 2016, before immediately joining the Olive Press at their offices on the Costa del Sol.
After a five-year stint, Laurence returned to the UK to work as a senior reporter at the Mail Online, where he remained for two years before coming back to the Olive Press as Digital Editor in 2023.
He continues to work for the biggest newspapers in the UK, who hire him to investigate and report on stories in Spain.
These include the Daily Mail, Telegraph, Mail Online, Mail on Sunday and The Sun and Sun Online.
He has broken world exclusives on everything from the Madeleine McCann case to the anti-tourism movement in Tenerife.

GOT A STORY? Contact newsdesk@theolivepress.es or call +34 951 273 575 Twitter: @olivepress

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