When Leonardo Marcos (Valderas, León, 1958) took office as general director of the Civil Guard – with general elections pending – many predicted a short-lived step at the head of the Armed Institute. There were even bets on whether he would surpass the two months of his predecessor, Mercedes González. Eight months have passed since that hot June afternoon. Now, in the midst of the commotion generated by the murder of two civil guards in Barbate (Cádiz) after being run over by a drug boat, Marcos gives his first interview. This Wednesday he receives La Vanguardia in his office, where a large screen stands out from which he follows the status of the tractor units that intend to collapse Madrid.
The first question is required. Have you detected any flaws in the Barbate operation that ended with the murder of two agents?
There are three lines of research open. We are completing an internal and operational investigation, in order to be sure that the operation was carried out and executed correctly. With caution and with the data I have, I have not detected that there has been any error to link the result. It must be said with complete force: the only people responsible for the death of the two civil guards, David and Miguel Ángel, are the drug traffickers who were on the boat. According to all indications, they had a clear desire to kill.
Explain to me what the succession of calls was like that made the agents finally enter the sea. Who gave the final order?
They did not enter the sea, but rather into the port area of ??Puerto de Barbate. The order was given by the chain of command; those who were in front, as in each of the commands every day. That Friday we were in Algeciras, we were taking stock of the Campo de Gibraltar Security Plan. There was a major storm. Up to six drug boats had been located in the port area. I cannot give many details, but several hours before these events took place, the identification operation was prepared. The port was entered by land because it was the only way to enter. From the sea it was not possible. And obviously, a very large ship cannot be mobilized from land. The appropriate means were mobilized to the circumstances that existed at that time. What was not foreseen was the criminal reaction. But the answer is simple: it couldn’t have been done any other way.
With the information you have now, 12 days after the events: do you think that order was justified based on the available means?
Obviously, we don’t know the same as we did 12 days ago. With the information that was available at that time, the order, from my point of view, was correct. The intervention too. What was not correct at all was criminal and irrational behavior.
According to what has been published, five of the six boats that the Civil Guard had were damaged in the area for different reasons. Could this fact influence the decision-making for the operation?
In the Maritime Service of the Civil Guard we currently have 90 vessels. Of those 90, 80 are operational every day. There are usually 10% that are in various phases of maintenance: either due to breakdowns or replacement of parts. What I want to say and I affirm with complete clarity is that the number of inoperative vessels, for whatever reason, did not influence these events at all by maritime means and nautical means sufficient to do our job.
Don’t you think that the disproportionate size of the boats used by the criminals compared to what the agents had at that time had an influence?
No. What influenced it was the assault against a boat. Similar vessels could never be. Drug traffickers’ boats are illegal. When we seize them we cannot use them later because they do not have a navigability certificate.
That night several videos went viral in which cheers could be heard for the drug traffickers to overwhelm the civil guards. Is this a symptom that the State has broken down in the area?
No, on the contrary. The plan was launched in 2018 because there was a feeling then that State control in this part of the country could be lost. Right now no one can seriously maintain that we have not fully recovered the control and presence of the State in this area. Let us not be confused by decontextualized images, let us not make the mistake of criminalizing a town like Barbate. The official crime statistics in the Civil Guard commands affected by the plan are slightly lower than the national average. Before the plan there was an assault on a hospital to free a detained drug trafficker; That was indeed a situation of loss of control. We are not in that now, fortunately.
From some testimonies from the area it is clear that the area verges on the narco-state
Absolutely. We are not in this situation. I insist, the global crime data for the area in which we apply the plan are slightly more favorable than the national average.
Agents deployed in the area have been warning for a few months of greater virulence on the part of drug traffickers. What do you think this fact is attributed to?
Greater virulence could be a simple, or simple, way of expressing that the drug trafficker is changing his modus operandi. There have been changes in recent years in the drug economy; the margins are increasingly reduced. Drug traffickers constantly evolve, which forces us police to adapt our own organization to this changing situation. There is a rejuvenation of drug trafficking activists and they are using different behaviors: more violent, but the organizations are also mutating. We are hitting financing, something increasing.
Will this event change the way we fight drug trafficking?
It has been a strong blow. We have lost two of our own. It has caused us a lot of pain. I am not speaking from hearsay, I have experienced it when speaking with the colleagues of the murdered agents. But immediately we must also underline the absolute strength of the body and the absolute commitment to continue doing our job. We have the absolute determination to effectively combat this criminal phenomenon. The events in Barbate were very serious, but the eight involved were arrested within 12 hours. Let no one doubt that drug trafficking is a complex fight that affects the entire society, but we will combat it, as we are doing, effectively. If we were not being effective with the Gibraltar Special Plan, we would not be experiencing these pressure situations.
The Prosecutor’s Office has requested greater involvement of the Army to neutralize the gangs. Are you in favor of military deployments in the Strait?
The Armed Forces have constitutionally assigned certain missions and the Police forces have constitutionally assigned different ones. We regularly collaborate with the Armed Forces in our missions. In particular, since the Maritime Service of the Civil Guard was launched, collaboration with the Navy is intense and almost daily. We do not need to appeal to the Armed Forces because we usually collaborate, taking into account their capabilities and our needs and taking into account our capabilities and their needs.
Although you are director of the Civil Guard. Do you have any recipe to fight drug trafficking beyond police measures?
The phenomenon of drug trafficking, like other phenomena of organized crime, is so extremely complex that it is not just the work of the police. Police work is only one part. We have to involve the whole of society as a whole. Social integration, education, and employment policies are essential to tackle a phenomenon of this nature. But there is also a responsibility for drug users: they must know that it is not free.
The mayor of Barbate proposed legalizing hashish as a possible solution. What do you think of this idea?
I am not going to judge statements that I am not aware of, but they seem frivolous to me.
The opposition to the Government is using the dissolution of OCON-SUR as a weapon against the Minister of the Interior. Did this influence the results obtained in the fight against drug trafficking?
I miss the times when solidarity was expressed with the State Security Forces and Bodies. That said, OCON-Sur was organized as a first measure when the Plan was launched in 2018. A first-impact measure, but once the first blows were given, it was necessary to adapt our response to the drug organization itself. It had its moment, it was successful, but it could not be maintained because the phenomenon was changing. It was seen that it was more convenient to organize the fight against drug trafficking based on the ordinary structures of fighting crime and organized crime. That is to say. Why is that structure changed? Because we must adapt our response to the enemy we have to fight. The reason is purely operational. As far as the results are concerned: since the plan was launched in 2018, the Civil Guard has removed 1,400 tons of drugs from circulation.
Changing the subject, the Civil Guard was a focus of strong criticism during the process. What assessment do you make of the institution in Catalonia at this time?
We feel that we do our work in Catalonia with complete normality, just as we do in the rest of Spain.
What is the current relationship with the Mossos d’Esquadra like?
We do not compete: we operate.
The judge of the National Court, Manuel García Castellón, is relying on the reports of the Civil Guard to carry out his Democratic Tsunami diligence. Do you think the criticism the judge is receiving is justified?
I do not have access to the judicial reports made by the Civil Guard, nor can I promote judicial proceedings.
I’m not asking you then for a specific reason. Do you think that in the public debate of recent months the term terrorism is being distorted?
The Civil Guard has 180 years of history. We practice exquisite political neutrality. Our job is security. We do not enter into political evaluations, nor should we enter. No one if we became just another actor in the political debate.
The Supreme Court has just annulled the decree that transfers traffic powers to Navarra. Are they studying the formula with which to deal with this setback?
It is a decree that was promoted by another department that has jurisdiction over relations with territorial administrations. We will comply with what the competent Ministry determines.
Will there be a step back?
What is determined by the competent administration.
Do you fear that the transfer of powers to the Civil Guard could end up making the institution irrelevant in some autonomous communities?
In view of our deployment, in view of the end of our daily work, it does not seem like it. We have a presence throughout the national territory and we have exclusive powers throughout the national territory. I don’t see that danger anywhere.
The majority associations and police unions are planning a large demonstration next month for a retirement with better conditions, which also involves recognizing the work of this profession as risky. What is going to be offered by this direction?
The Ministry has created a working group to study this issue. What is our will? We have made a great effort since 2019 to improve the remuneration of our agents. The equalization has meant an increase of 38%. And we will do everything necessary to continue maintaining and improving. That they have the best possible conditions. We have overcome the damage that staff cuts caused to security. In five years we have managed to reverse the cuts of previous years. The true commitment to the security of the Spanish people is to provide the Civil Guard with better means and greater human resources. Last year’s Civil Guard public employment offer was 2,600 positions, the highest in the last 12 years. Now that is a show of support and commitment to the safety of our fellow citizens. Today we have the best trained police officers and guards in our history, but also the best paid.
A couple of months ago a file was opened against several agents for the demonstrations they made against the amnesty. Why did you make that decision?
For us it is a legal mandate; an almost sacred principle: that of exquisite political neutrality. If we lose that political neutrality, we lose our DNA, we lose a fundamental part of our essence. I made a decision to open disciplinary files and suspend his duties. We are not in the political debate, nor should we be.
Do you see the way in which some Civil Guard associations allow themselves to be embraced by the right wing as dangerous?
We live in an adult and consolidated society. Everyone knows how they should act and who they should approach. Particularly, the relations that the Civil Guard maintains with the associations are cordial and constructive. It is part of our DNA, not to allow ourselves to be exploited.
Do you think that the Popular Party and Vox are instrumentalizing the institution for the political fray?
I should not comment on the role of political parties. Each one will know what they have to do. What I am dedicated to, like the Ministry of the Interior, is to provide the Civil Guard with the greatest possible number of agents, their technical preparation and their working conditions. Each one has their responsibilities, their history and their past.
