Six people arrested over membership of terrorist group DAESH, four in Palma de Mallorca, one in Germany and another in United Kingdom

The investigation began in 2015 when a series of videos were identified on a website showing the process of indoctrination, recruitment and travel to Syria of a young Muslim residing in Spain. The film producer (a Salafi imam) was identified, now arrested in the United Kingdom and under investigation by various European countries. This individual had travelled on those dates to Palma de Mallorca and started to mobilise a group - those arrested on Wednesday - to conduct the activities of recruitment, indoctrination and radicalisation in support of DAESH, from that point on becoming their spiritual leader.

The Salafi preacher, whose public discourse was well-known to the European police and intelligence services, was more privately dedicated to the recruitment of combatants and raising funds for Syria. However, the security measures he adopted and his constant relocations made his arrest difficult.

The Salafi imam arrested in the United Kingdom also acted as the spiritual and ideological guide of the individual arrested in Germany. Furthermore, he maintained direct contact with the other individuals arrested and had taken part in the propaganda videos produced by the group.

The investigation discovered that the group in Palma de Mallorca had been gradually increasing in size, not only via its activity on the social media networks but also via clandestine weekly meetings organised with a clear distribution of tasks: a sheikh or guru who steered the increasingly more extremist content, a scout on the look-out for new recruits, and a recruiter who made direct contact with the future member.

Their polarisation towards the most extreme radicalisation, their total commitment and acceptance of DAESH ideologies, the justification of terrorist actions undertaken by lone terrorists in Europe and their predisposition to undertake Jihadi violence led to the development of this operation in Spain, the United Kingdom and Germany.

These arrests were assisted by the National Intelligence Centre, the German Federal Police Force (BKA), the LKA of North Rhine-Westphalia, the Metropolitan Police of London and CTU West Midlands Birmingham. Support was also provided by the European agencies EUROPOL (which dispatched one of its experts to Palma de Mallorca), EUROJUST and SIRENE.

The complex operation developed by the General Commissariat of Intelligence demonstrates its total commitment to national and international collaboration and cooperation, and highlights communication between all the officers, institutions and agencies involved in European security as a necessary cornerstone in the fight against all forms of Jihadi terrorism.

The operation, which is ongoing, was carried out by Central Investigation Court Number 1, in coordination with the Public Prosecutor's Office of the Spanish 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), the law enforcement agencies have arrested a total of 178 Jihadist terrorists in operations carried out in Spain and abroad and a total of 223 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 surroundings through the web page www.stop-radicalismos.es, the mobile phone app for citizens security alerts Alertcops and the free hotline 900 822 066.