Mossos d’Esquadra, in an archive image.Albert Garcia
The local police of Sant Cugat (Barcelona) arrested the son of the Chilean consul in Barcelona, Jaime Ferraz, along with five other people last Friday. The group skipped a police checkpoint at night while driving the car belonging to their father, who has a diplomatic driver’s license. The Mossos d’Esquadra are investigating whether the young man and the rest of the people, some of whom have criminal records, are part of a group of thieves who tried to rob a phone shop hours before.
The episode began at night in the city center when the city police became aware of a vehicle with diplomatic license plates. At first glance, the agents also had the feeling that there were more people traveling inside than were allowed, as the digital newspaper El Taquígrafo revealed. The local police stopped him, but the driver fled, according to a community spokesman, and only stopped when he suffered an accident that prevented him from continuing his journey. At that moment they were arrested.
The six arrested were then handed over to the Mossos d’Esquadra, and one of them claimed he had diplomatic immunity because he was the consul’s son, according to police sources. After checking, officials informed him that the exemption only applied to his father. However, according to the same sources, police could not search the vehicle until it was authorized by the embassy because it has a diplomatic license.
The consul’s son traveled with five people, some of whom had a history of theft. The police are investigating whether those arrested were involved in the attempted robbery of a cell phone store that same night. And it does not rule out the possibility that this is a group that is also dedicated to home burglaries, albeit with little specialization. During the attempted looting of the telephone store, they attempted to use the manhole cover to break the store’s stained glass windows.
This newspaper has contacted the Chilean embassy in Spain, which has not yet commented on the arrest, which directly involved a consular vehicle. The Catalan police suspect that thanks to the diplomatic license, the car served precisely to offer the group better protection during the robberies. The Chilean Foreign Ministry has limited the detention to “personal space” and believes it does not “affect the consulate” or “impair its functioning.” He has also detailed that he has already given the Spanish authorities permission To the vehicle that, in his opinion, the young man took without permission and has made himself available to the justice system for anything they may need, says reports Rocio Montes.
You can follow EL PAÍS Catalunya on Facebook and Twitteror sign up here to receive our weekly newsletter
What influences the most is what happens next. So you don’t miss anything, subscribe.
Subscribe to