Rob Kiteley
FOUR officers from the Polica Local have been arrested in a dawn raid in Catalunya over suspected involvement in a cannabis trafficking operation.
The operation to detain the officers took place at 5am on Tuesday as part of a larger operation against a cannabis trafficking network located in Barcelona.
All the officers involved were based in Llinars del Vallés, a Catalan town of 10,000 residents, which is located 40km from Barcelona.
A total of 28 locations were raided in various locations across Catalunya, but the operation focused primarily on Llinars del Vallès and the city of Barcelona.
One of the locations targeted was the Llinars Local Police station, where investigators have so far made four arrests. Other premises, some of which were located on the Can Prat de Llinars industrial estate, were also targeted in the operation.
Mossos detectives have been investigating the drug trafficking network for several months, and a judge ordered secrecy around the case.
One of the four detained officers is a corporal who was shot on December 12, 2019 when he was conversing with an alleged informant who was killed in the attack. The officer survived after his bulletproof vest stopped a bullet.
The alleged police informant was talking to the corporal at the time of his death, and he died after being shot at around 7:30pm by a person dressed in dark clothing. The gunman has not been identified.
The hooded assailant has been described as a man with a slim build, around 1.70 meters tall. He fired on the officer and the alleged informant up to eight times.
The alleged informant managed to grab the shooter by the hand in an effort to stop the shooting, before one bullet struck the corporal’s bulletproof vest.
The Llinars del Vallès City Council has promised to take “the appropriate measures”, when it has all the information regarding the operation against marijuana trafficking in the town.
In a statement, the council expressed surprise and dismay at the operation carried out by the Mossos d’Esquadra, but said it supported the investigation.
READ MORE:
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- FORMER POLICE BOSS JOSE VILLAREJO FACING JAIL TERM FOR ‘RUNNING 20 YEAR SPYING AND CORRUPTION OPERATION’ THAT IMPLICATED SPAIN’S GREAT AND GOOD
