Guardia Civil arrest individual in Collado Mediano (Madrid) for his involvement in radicalisation activities and the distribution of Jihadist propaganda supporting DAESH

Officers from the Intelligence Service of the Guardia Civil carried out an operation early on Tuesday morning, under the instructions of Central Investigation Court No. 5 and the Public Prosecutor's Office of the National High Court, which led to the arrest of A.H., aged 31, in the town of Collado Mediano (Madrid), who was born in Ait Aissa (Morocco), for his involvement with the propaganda wing of the terrorist group DAESH in Spain. This investigation, carried out by specialists from the Intelligence Service of the Guardia Civil, commenced in mid-2016.

In order to carry out this operation, developed jointly with EUROPOL, several members of this organisation travelled to Spain in order to actively participate in the analysis of information with the aim of determining the international relationships of the detainee.

In addition to this collaboration, investigators also received the support of intelligence services and police forces from other countries.

The use of propaganda by various terrorist groups over the Internet and through platforms for mobile devices is one of the main ways in which they spread their radical ideology and is also used to recruit new followers and to publicise their actions. This can be seen in the high number of media producers that Al Qaeda and DAESH have developed to ensure the largest possible audience.

The terrorist group DAESH has developed apps to be used on mobile devices. Access to their content through restricted channels is particularly dangerous, which includes manuals that DAESH distributes to encourage the commission of terrorist activities, in which they provide specific explanations on the way to carry these through, which was of particular concern to the investigators, given that the detainee was living in Spain.

Following the arrest, officers are searching the individual's residence to gather evidence of his intense activity on the Internet and social media, through which he had numerous contacts both in Spain and abroad.

Since 26 June 2015, the date on which the Ministry of Home Affairs raised the Counter-Terrorism Alert Level to level 4 (Spanish acronym: NAA-4), law enforcement agencies have arrested a total of 181 Jihadist terrorists in operations carried out in Spain and abroad, and a total of 226 since the beginning 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 citizen security Alertcops and the free hotline 900 822 066.