Ben Pawlowski
JUNTA president Juanma Moreno has described the fight against drug trafficking as ‘David against Goliath’ as he called on Pedro Sanchez’s government to treat suspected criminals ‘like ETA terrorists’.
The regional president of Andalucia made the comments at a conference in Madrid called Andalucía, donde todo comienza (‘Andalucia, where it all begins’), organised by the regional Ministry of Economy, Finance and European Funds.
His comments also coincided with the visit of a delegation of MEPs (Members of European Parliament) to Algeciras and Barbate, the municipality where two members of the Guardia Civil were killed last year after they were hit by a so-called ‘narcolancha’, a small boat used by gangs to traffic drugs across the Strait of Gibraltar.
“Drug trafficking is becoming increasingly entrenched in Spain,” Moreno warned. “It has ever greater capabilities and resources, while the Guardia Civil and Policia Nacional have ever fewer resources. It is David against Goliath, the humiliation of our rule of law. It is an invasion.”
“We will see how the drug traffickers are going to start threatening, as they are already doing, judges, police officers, Guardia Civil, or buying off officers, judges or politicians. They started with hashish, but now we are dealing with cocaine,” Moreno added.
READ MORE: WATCH: Police hunt down last narco from speed boat that killed two cops in southern Spain
“Cocaine always brings bloodshed. We are already seeing Kalashnikov assault rifles, weapons…and I hope I am wrong, but we are going to see ugly things. I ask the government to deploy all its resources.”
In a stark warning, the conservative Partido Popular (PP) leader called on the national government to activate the same measures that were put in place against terrorists from ETA, the Basque separatist group that terrorised Spain throughout the latter half of the 20th century, killing over 800 Spaniards.
The Junta president added: “I am ashamed that a modern country like ours does not have the capacity to fight against growing drug trafficking. We can stop it now, but in a few years’ time we will not be able to.
“Drug trafficking started in a single province, but now it is all over southern Andalucia. It cannot be that every day we see speedboats from Cabo de Gata to Huelva. It cannot be that they enter through the Guadalquivir River as if it were their own home. And it cannot be that the petrol used to fuel boats leaves the ports normally because it is not classified as a crime in the Penal Code.”
The spokesperson for the Andalucia branch of the socialist PSOE criticised Moreno for ‘attacking the Spanish government and poisoning minds’ when he should be ‘supporting the professionals that make up our police and security forces’.
