In the early hours of February 2, a police pursuit of some tobacco smugglers by sea ended with two Customs Enforcement officers injured by stones and a bitter diplomatic incident with Gibraltar. Some of those responsible for these events, whose image appeared in a video that circulated like wildfire on social networks, have now been arrested. The National Police announced on Wednesday that they had arrested six of the suspected human traffickers in La Línea de la Concepción (Cádiz), who are accused of aggravated assault on an officer and injuries. It is also maintaining a search and arrest warrant for the remaining alleged perpetrators of an attack that led to a diplomatic complaint from The Rock over what it saw as a “grave breach of British sovereignty and jurisdiction”.
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Investigators from La Línea Police Station found the suspects between Tuesday and today, and they are expected to be brought to justice in the next few hours. The six detainees are Spanish, residents of the city of Cádiz or its surroundings and between 19 and 34 years old. Three of them have previous convictions for crimes against public health, smuggling and money laundering. The investigation, conducted by the La Línea Investigative Court No. 3, was carried out with the assistance of the Campo de Gibraltar Public Prosecutor’s Office.
The events took place in the early hours of February 2 during a car chase that ended on Levante Beach in Gibraltar. The two customs officers arrived there after the boat in which they were chasing the smugglers’ boat ran out of engine and the strong waves carried them onto the beach. There, the pursued men threw stones at the two customs officers, causing serious facial injuries: one required surgery for fractured cheekbones, the other suffered a broken nasal septum. Startled by the presence of more than 20 smugglers on the beach, who hit and yelled at them, the agents responded by firing guns in the air.
The violence against the agents was documented by the attackers themselves, who recorded a video that was eventually broadcast on social networks. They can be heard yelling at her: “This is Gibraltar, this is not your job!” When those attacked ask for help to get back to their squad car, they are told, “Now you want help, don’t you, whistleblower? Find your life.” The following day, Gibraltar reported that four Gibraltarian agents came to the beach, separating the smugglers only from the two Spanish agents and given the difference in forces, did not arrest anyone, according to the Gibraltar government.
The event sparked a diplomatic incident between Spain and the United Kingdom, as Gibraltar issued a statement denouncing the serious violation of British sovereignty and jurisdiction by the Spanish agents, after condemning the attack and assuring them that they would receive medical assistance offered and declined. “The evidence surrounding this incident shows a serious breach of British sovereignty and possibly the most serious and dangerous incident in many years. Of course, before we react, we need to be sure of the facts, but events suggest that the actions of Spanish officials are intolerable,” Gibraltar Prime Minister Fabian Picardo said.
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These words, in turn, provoked the declaration of the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which “categorically” rejected the terms of that declaration, “as well as the claims contained therein of an alleged British sovereignty over the territory and waters of Gibraltar”. . The British Foreign Office said it had asked the Spanish government for “clarifications” on what had happened.
After that bitter confrontation, just as negotiations were taking place to conclude the treaty that would govern relations between Gibraltar and the European Union post-Brexit – and which have not resulted in a result for months – The Rock’s stance was in the US launched another investigation into those now detained. Spanish police sources confirm this week’s operation dubbed “Revenge” was “collaborated” by Gibraltar to find the identities of the culprits. Investigators are now hoping to complete the operation by locating an unspecified number of people who were also involved in that night’s events and have search and arrest warrants in place.