National Police arrest Moroccan in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria determined to carry out "violent Jihad"

Officers from the General Commissariat of Intelligence of the National Police arrested an individual of Moroccan nationality in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria who was determined to carry out "violent Jihad". The detainee constituted a potential threat to national security after declaring his clear intention to carry out a major terrorist attack with wide repercussions.

The detainee, 33 years old, Moroccan and in Spain unlawfully, had experienced a significant increase in his level of radicalisation in a short time-span despite being under investigation since the year 2012 after being flagged up as potentially dangerous.

In this regard, the detainee had adopted a fundamentalist aesthetic, both in his physical appearance and in the way he dressed, extending his own radicalisation to his close surroundings, including his family, whom he had not only imposed a religious conversion on but also the adoption of strict customs.

The investigation carried out made it clear that the detainee was also carrying out extensive activities on the social media to publish pro-Jihadi content in support of DAESH, sharing violent videos praising martyrdom, openly approving the commission of terrorist attacks and even posing, together with his wife and young son, openly wearing clothes with emblems of the aforesaid terrorist group and holding knives. All of this activity was carried out by the detainee making use of various techniques to disguise his identity on the Internet with a view to avoiding police detection.

The General Commissariat of Intelligence focuses its efforts on the early detection and neutralisation of elements that could represent a risk to national security, thus counteracting the recent threats made by DAESH focused on stepping up actions in Europe through cells or lone wolves, particularly those having returned from Jihadi conflict.

The operation, which remains ongoing, has been developed under the supervision of Central Investigation Court Number 2 and in coordination with the Public Prosecutor's Office of the National High Court, supported in the process by the National Intelligence Centre.

Since 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 188 Jihadist terrorists.

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.