Eight arrests after two Guardia Civil officers are killed by drugs traffickers

The resignation of Spain's interior minister has been demanded

Spain's interior minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska in Cadiz. | Joaquín Corchero (Europa Press)

Andrew EdeCadiz11/02/2024 09:00

Eight people have now been arrested following an incident at the port of Barbete in Cádiz on Friday night when a Guardia Civil boat was rammed by a drugs traffickers' boat and two officers were killed.

Six of those arrested were on the boat in question and the two others were due to have picked them up in a vehicle in Sotogrande.

Six drugs boats had taken refuge in the port because of a storm. A Guardia Civil boat with six officers on board approached these boats, at which point it was rammed.

From reports, it would seem that the people who have been arrested are all Spanish, aged between 21 and 54, and with a history of drugs trafficking and money laundering.

The Justice for the Guardia Civil professional association has demanded the resignation of Spain's minister of the interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, for having allowed officers only "an inadequate and low-powered boat" when faced with the "powerful boats used by mafias for drug trafficking".

The association is not alone in condemning videos taken of events in which people are heard to be "cheering the murderers and laughing at officers who, with their poor means, have died when attempting to carry out their duty - prevention of drugs trafficking".