Kingdom
BCIJ: Dismantling of a Terrorist Cell Active Between Morocco and Spain
This cell, affiliated with داعش (ISIS), is composed of three extremist individuals operating between the two countries. The leader of the cell was arrested in Mallorca, while his two accomplices were apprehended in Tangier.
The Central Bureau of Judicial Investigations (BCIJ), which operates under the General Directorate for Territorial Surveillance (DGST), carried out on Wednesday morning, as part of a joint and simultaneous operation with the General Information Commissariat (CGI) of the Spanish National Police, the dismantling of a terrorist cell affiliated with the terrorist organization “داعش” (ISIS). The cell was composed of three extremist members operating in Morocco and Spain.
This high-level security operation is part of the joint initiatives and investigations conducted by Moroccan security services, in coordination with their Spanish counterparts, with the aim of neutralizing risks related to the terrorist threat and dismantling extremist networks and organizations threatening the security of both countries, the BCIJ stated in a press release.
Field interventions carried out simultaneously within the framework of this joint operation led to the arrest of two individuals in Tangier by members of the DGST Special Force, while Spanish security services arrested the “leader” of this terrorist cell in the city of Mallorca.
At this stage, preliminary results of the ongoing investigations indicate that the members of the cell arrested in Morocco were involved in financing and providing logistical support to fighters active within branches of the “داعش” (ISIS) organization in the sub-Saharan Sahel region and in Somalia. The leader of this cell is suspected of having planned to carry out a terrorist attack in Spain, following the modus operandi of individual terrorism.
For the purposes of the judicial investigation, the two suspects arrested in Tangier have been placed in police custody as part of the investigation conducted by the BCIJ under the supervision of the prosecutor’s office in charge of terrorism cases, in order to shed light on all the ramifications and connections of this network at both the national and regional levels.
This new security operation crowns a long process of cooperation between Moroccan security services and their Spanish counterparts, while also illustrating the importance of the bilateral strategic partnership in the security field, which has enabled the dismantling of more than 30 terrorist cells since 2014 in both countries, thereby helping to confront major threats and thwart dangerous plots that threaten their security.
