The Maritime Police of the Mossos d’Esquadra have added one more vessel to their fleet, the result of an operation in May 2022, which made it possible to dismantle a criminal group specialized in drug trafficking and money laundering. This has been explained by the director of the Police, Pere Ferrer, who has indicated that the device is 7.4 meters long and will be located in the port of Roses.
The vessel has pressure on the northern part of the Costa Brava, an area that, due to its orography, has become especially attractive for groups dedicated to these illegal activities. This has been decided given that, in recent years, these cases have ceased to be exceptional and localized and have been repeated in various parts of the Catalan coast.
The Mossos d’Esquadra continue with their objective of consolidating the deployment of the Maritime Police, providing the unit with the necessary resources and operational capabilities to deal with the criminal activities that take place in this area. In this context, the body has incorporated into its fleet of vehicles a boat that was requisitioned in Sant Feliu de GuÃxols in a police operation that took place in May 2022.
According to the police chief, Pere Ferrer, it is a device that will mean “a very important saving for the administration”, because its acquisition has not had any cost. “We ask the judge for the pertinent authorization to transform it into a police boat,” explained Ferrer, who has been convinced that in the future the Mossos will add more material resources as a result of police actions.
He also recalled that, with the new unit, the Maritime Police already has five boats that are permanently in the water. Three of these are patrols that involved an investment of 500,000 euros each. They are located in Ametlla de Mar, to provide coverage in the Ebro delta area, in Mataró, to cover the central coast, and in Palamós, to serve the southern Costa Brava area.
In addition, the body has a 13-meter long glider that is based in Puerto Fòrum and that it also obtained through a police operation. In addition, the Mossos have three inflatable boats to cover the service of the Aquatic Unit.
The new boat is in the port of Roses and the will of the Mossos is to use it to intensify surveillance in the northern part of the Girona coast. “Covering the Costa Brava with the service needs and the orography that it has became complicated”, commented Ferrer, who said that with the new vehicle it will be possible to increase the pressure in the area that goes from the Gulf of Roses to the Cap de Creus. The new vehicle will be very useful “because it has little draft” and will allow agents “to get closer to the coastline to attend to possible requirements.”
The director of the Police has stressed that the phenomenon of drug trafficking is what has worried the Mossos for years. “When we proposed deploying the Maritime Police, one of the objectives we set ourselves was to respond to this entry of drugs by sea,” he stated.
In this sense, he has indicated that in recent years a change in trend has been detected, so that the cases have ceased to be concentrated in the Ebre delta area. “We have been having them, not only in the Delta, but also in other parts of the Catalan coast,” Ferrer remarked. In addition, he adds, “they are specific events, but at the same time they are enough to ask that they are not exceptional.”
Despite the fact that on many occasions the criminal groups unload the drug in the same ports, it is true that they use a series of specific means to bring the merchandise in by sea. “The police must be able to respond with equivalent resources so that without them we will hardly be able to meet the citizen security needs of Cataloniaâ€, he has sentenced.
