National Police arrest two members of a terrorist cell in Madrid linked to DAESH and specialised in carrying out electronic Jihad

The two detainees were involved in an advanced and dangerous process of radicalisation which led them to repeatedly view material apt for self-training, thus capacitating them to become 'inghimasi' fighters - individuals prepared to carry out terrorist attacks on European soil following the modus operandi used in the past in attacks on cities in the United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium and France through the commission of suicide attacks or the manufacture of home-made explosive devices.

One of the detainees, aged 43 and the main target of the investigation, maintained ongoing contact with more than 100 web beacons designed to provide DAESH terrorist training. The investigators of the counter-terrorist teams of the General Commissariat of Intelligence of the National Police detected that this individual was a habitual consumer of audiovisual material, mainly tutorials on procedures to manufacture explosive devices with easily-accessible materials and using simple techniques, thus evidencing an advanced state of radicalisation and danger.

Despite his reduced circle of relations, which was very limited since he spent most of his time at home, the investigators detected contact he maintained with the second detainee with whom he shared his radical ideology and his frequent activity on the Internet.

This new operation comes within the framework of the ongoing work that the General Commissariat of Intelligence of the National Police has been carrying out as part of the fight against Jihadi terrorism in all its shapes and forms, through Jihadi cells, recruitment and facilitation networks, lone wolves and in combating the dangerous consolidation of DAESH in the virtual world.

The operation, which is ongoing, was carried out under the supervision of the Central Investigation Court Number 4, in coordination with the Public Prosecutor's Office of the National High Court

Since 26 June 2015, the year in which the Ministry of Home Affairs raised the Counter-Terrorism Alert Level to level 4 (Spanish acronym: NAA-4), the law enforcement agencies have arrested a total of 164 Jihadist terrorists in operations carried out in Spain and abroad and a total of 212 since the start of 2015.

The Ministry of Home Affairs sends out a reminder that, through the initiative STOP RADICALISMOS, citizens can collaborate through a series of channels open to them so that, in a confidential and secure manner, they can notify the State law enforcement agencies of possible cases of radicalisation in their vicinity through the web page www.stop-radicalismos.es, the mobile phone app for citizens security alerts 'Alertcops' and the free hotline 900 822 066.