National Police dismantle active Jihadi terrorist cell ready to attack the capital

The police operation was carried out urgently, given that the members of the cell, highly unpredictable individuals in terms of their reactions, showed high risk signs, and the police had detected that they had every intention of moving into action and carrying out terrorist attacks.

The group was perfectly organised, with an established hierarchy, and each one of its members had a specific role assigned thereto. The leader of the terrorist cell carried out recruitment activities by spreading the principles and commands of DAESH, controlling the development of these recruits and undertaking training methods of terrorist discipline. The other two members took on the role of active operators, in other words, they were tasked with performing terrorist actions.

At the time this terrorist cell was dismantled, its members were fully radicalised and in a phase of full assimilation and commitment to the terrorist ideal, showing their full readiness to undertake an attack in the city of Madrid.

One of those arrested in this counter-terrorism operation had established his residence in the neighbourhood of La Cañada Real Galiana, in the district of Madrid of Rivas-Vaciamadrid. This individual, according to police investigations, had ready access to the illegal market of all types of weapon, a fact that further aggravated the situation.

The use of Internet and the social media as a source of information and communication was a constant feature of the group's activity and the main work of the detainees, with the aim of reporting on the progress and success of the terrorist group DAESH, as well as of obtaining the materials for their radicalisation activities through this source.

This police operation is the continuation of a strand of work that the National Police Force has followed in the fight against Jihadi terrorism, in line with the current warning level - Level 4 (HIGH) - with the very specific aim of neutralising all forms of threat to national security.

The operation, which remains ongoing, was coordinated by the Head of the Central Investigation Court number 4 of the Spanish National High Court and by its Public Prosecution Service.