International cooperation leads to eight arrests after two Guardia Civil officers killed in collision with drug launch

By Maria Jesus Corrales and Brian Reyes

Spain, Morocco and Gibraltar coordinated resources to track a drug smugglers' launch that collided with a Guardia Civil vessel in Barbate on Friday night, killing two officers and injuring two others.

Eight people, including three people who were on the 14-metre rigid-hulled inflatable boat, have been arrested.

Across the province of Cadiz on Saturday, there were solemn gatherings to honour the two dead men and send a message of defiance to organised crime in the region.

"Drug smugglers should know this," Fernando Grande-Marlaska, Spain’s Minister of the Interior, told reporters on Saturday.

"Society is stronger than they are, the state is stronger than they are, and the different institutions are perfectly coordinated, and at international level too.”

Mr Grande-Marlaska offered few details on the investigation into the incident, which he said remained ongoing.

Asked about the nationalities of those arrested, he declined to respond.

But on two occasions during the short appearance before the media, Mr Grande-Marlaska highlighted the international cooperation that led to the arrests.

"Yesterday, Spanish institutions but also those of Gibraltar and Morocco made their  resources available so that these criminals could not escape,” he said.

"There is absolute determination in the fight against drug smuggling."

On Friday night after news of the fatal collision broke, the Commissioner of the Royal Gibraltar Police, Richard Ullger, and Chief Minister Fabian Picardo offered their condolences and any assistance that Gibraltar could provide.

Mr Marlaska said that immediately after the fatal collision, the Guardia Civil began coordinating efforts to track the vessel involved, including with international partners.

"We were able to track it at all times and finally arrest the alleged perpetrators," Mr Marlaska said.

Earlier this week, the Spanish minister had been in Algeciras where he announced an extension of an operation targeting drug smugglers that commenced several years ago.

But the central government has been heavily criticised by both opposition parties and law enforcement unions who accuse it of failing to make sufficient resources available in a region where drug trafficking is rife.