The Civil Guard has dismantled a plot to smuggle Defense material from Malaga to Saudi Arabia.
In an operation directed by the National Court, the agents have arrested one person and are investigating another.
Both have supposedly exported battle tank engines and spare parts for armored vehicles to transport troops to the Persian Gulf country worth 2.8 million euros.
The operations were carried out without a license, so there was a possibility, according to the armed institute, that the war instruments could be used in the conflict in Yemen, in which Riyadh has been involved since 2015, and others in the Middle East.
The arrested man had a company in the capital of Malaga.
Through it he sent defense material to Saudi Arabia, which he disguised in declared operations—fraudulently—as if they were spare parts for civilian trucks.
International arms trade is subject to numerous controls and companies that do so legally must be registered in the Special Registry of Foreign Trade Operators (REOCE) of the Ministry of Commerce and, in addition, obtain a license for each operation.
The one who studies and grants them is the Interministerial Regulatory Board for the Control of Foreign Trade in Defense and Dual Use Materials (JIMDDU), a collegiate body of the Government in which the Ministry of the Interior participates.
In addition to engines for tanks and military spare parts, according to researchers, the Malaga company also offered and provided technical assistance for the modernization of armored and armored vehicles of the Armed Forces of Saudi Arabia.
“These vehicles were later used in the war in Yemen in contravention of the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council issued against exacerbating this war conflict,” according to the Civil Guard.
In fact, one of the objectives of the strong control on exports of defense material is, precisely, that it cannot be illegally diverted to countries in conflict.
The operation, called Sabra and developed by the UCE 3 Information Headquarters - an elite corps for missions of special complexity - of the Civil Guard, in collaboration with the Malaga Information group and the cynological service, has prevented both new irregular exports without control by the Spanish authorities and that the goods could be used in wars, as reported by the security body.
During the search of the detained man's home, a large amount of cash was found under the bed.
The case is in the hands of the Central Court of Instruction Number 6 of the National Court.
Subscribe to continue reading
Read without limits
Keep reading
I am already a subscriber
_