Image of a homemade weapon confiscated in the operation against the gang.
The National Police have arrested the three leaders of a Latin gang in Barcelona for crimes of criminal organization, injuries and illicit possession of firearms.
Those arrested were allegedly leading a new franchise of a gang called Pandilla Barrio 18 or Calle 18 that emerged in the metropolitan area of Barcelona.
In addition, they carried out proselytizing work to recruit new members in Nou Barris (one of the most disadvantaged districts of the capital) and in neighborhoods of L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, where they had settled.
Their objective was to occupy the space left by another gang from that same gang that was dismantled by the police just a year ago.
The investigation began in October 2023, after the agents confirmed that several residents of Latin American origin were being attacked and receiving threats in different areas of Barcelona.
The attackers boasted that they belonged to “La 18”.
The investigators pulled the thread and found that the suspects led a
group
or
clique
—a kind of franchise—of the Mara
Gang Barrio 18
, which sought to make its way into Barcelona.
The operation to decapitate the incipient group took place on Wednesday.
Directed by the 25th investigative court of Barcelona, agents from the General Information Commissariat and the Barcelona Provincial Information Brigade participated in the operation, in addition to the US FBI.
During the early hours of the morning, the three leaders of the group were arrested and their homes were searched.
The agents seized a homemade firearm commonly used by these gangs at the home.
This type of weapon is usually called
Chilean
and was located along with the gang's symbols and dozens of 12-gauge bullets. The National Police Corps warns, in a press release released this Sunday, that these types of organizations are hierarchical. and with the roles fully defined.
The police force is within the International Group Against Transactional Organized Crime (GICCOT) and they work in a coordinated manner to end these organizations at a global level.
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