Alex Trelinski
THE Guardia Civil and German authorities have dismantled a drone logistics structure operating in Europe supplying so-called kamikaze drones to the Lebanese extremist Hezbollah group.
Over a thousand drones were built with three people arrested in Catalunya and Badalona along with an arrest in Germany.
The gang made up Hezbollah’s logistical structure in charge of obtaining the basic components for the manufacture of kamikaze drones, also known as UAVs (Unmanned Air Vehicles).
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The investigation started in Spain when the Guardia Civil detected suspicious transactions, by Spanish commercial companies managed by citizens of Lebanese origin.
The orders consisted of large quantities of materials and components suitable for the construction of military-type unmanned aircraft, capable of transporting explosive charges weighing several kilos.
German authorities joined the Guardia operation with a gang member operating in Germany.
The probe uncovered companies- located in Spain and abroad- buying large amounts of materials.
These included electronic guidance components, propeller propellers, bearings, dozens of gasoline engines, more than two hundred electric motors, as well as over 12 tons of resins and hardening substances to make up the fuselage, wings and moving parts of the drones.
Although there is no accurate data on the total number of drones that Hezbollah could have built with the components acquired by their logistics structure in Europe, figures based on seized documents suggest there could have been several hundred, even exceeding a thousand drones.
Over the last few months, there have been numerous attacks by Hezbollah on Israel using drones produced by the Spanish-German producers.
The drones, which can carry several kilograms of explosives, is very high, since, due to their small size and low flight profile, they are hard to detect and neutralise early.
The Guardia Civil says that coordinated actions in Spain and Germany stopped the imminent shipment of more drone consignments to Hezbollah.
