On March 16 in Barcelona, the Civil Guard arrested an alleged 18-year-old jihadist who disseminated terrorist manuals from the Islamic State (ISIS) and who allegedly instructed with them the four members of an Islamist cell who were arrested at the beginning of March in Tyresö (Sweden) when they were preparing to attack, as reported this Tuesday by the Ministry of the Interior.
Investigators also link the arrested person with a young jihadist detained on December 15 in Ottawa (Canada), accused of organizing explosive attacks against the Jewish community in this country, according to sources close to the investigations.
The person arrested in the Catalan capital, a Spanish national and a mechanics student, is accused of disseminating and translating “abundant jihadist content on terrorist activities”, as well as “material suitable for the manufacture of explosives” through instant messaging applications, according to the note from the armed institute.
The judge of the National Court José Luis Calama ordered his entry into preventive detention on March 19.
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The metamorphosis of jihadism in Spain
The one baptized as Operation Numidas began last year, when the Information Service of the Civil Guard, alerted by the Swedish Security Service (SÄPO), detected in Spain the presence of members of the jihadist cell that would later be dismantled in the country. Scandinavian.
According to sources familiar with the investigations, during the monitoring of the alleged Islamists, the agents detected that they came into contact through encrypted messaging applications - never in person - with a person residing in Barcelona.
The investigation of these contacts led to the now detained man, who lived in the Catalan capital with his parents, of Moroccan origin, and his brothers.
The monitoring to which the suspect was subjected from that moment on made it possible to verify that the young man, through his internet profiles, carried out activities “planned in a coherent and coordinated manner with a clear vocation to gain followers and achieve real and “effective” to ISIS with the dissemination of the propaganda material of this terrorist group, including images of attacks, as highlighted by the Civil Guard in a note.
To this end, the now arrested man “maintained strict security measures in his communications with the use of tools that allowed him to have anonymity on the network and operate clandestinely,” the note adds.
The investigation confirmed that the young man living in Barcelona had not only maintained contact with the dismantled cell in Sweden, but also with sympathizers of the jihadist cause in other countries, such as the one arrested in December in Canada, as well as in France.
The first analysis of the seized computer material has also revealed that the young man used cryptocurrencies, which is why the agents are now investigating his alleged connection with terrorist financing activities.
Islamic State symbols were also found at his home.
Sources in the fight against terrorism highlight that the young man detained in Barcelona fits the profile that is increasingly common in Spain: male, increasingly younger and born or raised in Spain.
In addition to the Civil Guard and the Swedish Security Service, the National Intelligence Center (CNI), the French Directorate General of Internal Security (DGSI) and the European Union Agency for Police Cooperation (Europol) participated in the operation. ).
So far this year, 15 people have been arrested in Spain for their alleged involvement in jihadist activities.
Spain is at level 4 of anti-terrorist alert, “high risk” - in force since June 2015 -, above the existing five, although on March 21, the Interior gave instructions to the security forces to reinforce the measures on the occasion of the celebration of Holy Week.
In this latest internal order, as it did at Christmas, the ministry has focused part of the measures on the security of different diplomatic legations in Spain due to the great polarization that exists after the conflict in the Gaza Strip broke out in October.
Among them, that of Israel, Turkey, Palestine, Lebanon and Jordan, as well as other “strategic, cultural and economic interests” of these countries.
Preventive anti-terrorist measures have also been reinforced in the embassies of the 26 EU countries, with special attention to those of France, Sweden and Denmark (the latter two due to the public burning of copies of the Koran).
Other diplomatic representations that have seen their security increased have been those of the United States and the United Kingdom.
The recent Moscow attack carried out by an ISIS affiliate, in which at least 139 people have died, has increased the concern of security forces.