A MAN has been shot in the leg after a drug heist went wrong in Barcelona’s Born neighbourhood during the Sant Joan celebrations.
The shooting happened at 10.48pm on June 23 in a flat on Calle Mare de Deu del Pilar, just round the corner from the famous Palau de la Musica, after two men burst through the door and opened fire.
Mossos d’Esquadra are investigating the attack as a so-called narcoassalt — a drug-on-drug robbery in which one criminal group targets another to steal their supply.
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The victim received a gunshot wound to the leg and was taken to Hospital de Bellvitge, where his condition was not life-threatening.
The attackers fled in a waiting car immediately after the shooting.
Mossos d’Esquadra and Guardia Urbana patrols tracked the vehicle to the junction of Via Laietana and Passeig de Colom, where two of the occupants were detained on the spot while two more escaped on foot into the city centre.
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A search of the car uncovered nearly a kilogram of cocaine, a short-barrelled firearm and a bloodstained T-shirt — items investigators say are consistent with the narcoassalt theory.
An overnight operation focused on the Port of Barcelona area failed to locate the two men still at large, and police have footage of all four suspects.
Mossos officers who searched the flat found it empty, though detectives confirmed that evidence inside was consistent with the account given by witnesses.
The criminal investigations division — the DIC — is now working to establish the identities of all participants and reconstruct the sequence of events.
Those arrested are understood to have connections to the Nou Barris district of Barcelona, on the other side of the city.
The Born is one of Barcelona’s most-visited tourist quarters, filled with bars and restaurants, and was at its most crowded on one of Spain’s biggest public celebrations.
Sant Joan brought 39 arrests across Barcelona in total, as Catalunya continues to grapple with a surge in gun violence that has seen 24 shooting incidents recorded in the region since January.
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