Spain: Arrested Moroccan Member Of Islamic State Recruitment Structure

Officers from Spain’s Provincial Intelligence Brigade in Valencia and the Local Brigade of the National Police in Sagunto, coordinated by the General Commissariat for Intelligence of the National Police, arrested an individual in Sagunto (Valencia) on Monday, November 6 for his alleged membership of the recruitment structure of DAESH (Islamic State).

Through his indoctrination activities, the detainee – a 47-year old male, of Moroccan nationality and illegally residing in Spain – acted as a sounding board for messages and instructions that the terrorist group DAESH sends out to its members to spread and achieve their goals. Furthermore, he was a powerful instigator in the creation of the ideal spawning ground to effectively forge the idea of committing terrorist attacks in the minds of new followers.

The police investigations showed that the detainee was the main element responsible for recruiting and sending a young Moroccan, 26 years old, to Iraq back in November 2014. This young recruit had lived with his family in Sagunto and committed a suicide attack that took the lives of 33 Iraqi soldiers and left dozens of others injured in a lorry explosion just a month and a half after his arrival, which indicates his profound conviction and allegiance to the terrorist cause.

During the time the two individuals were together in Sagunto, the young recruit habitually slept in the domicile of the individual arrested on Monday, whom the latter incessantly provided with content and propaganda in support of the goals of the terrorist group DAESH.

After spearheading comments exalting the person of the terrorist following his death, the individual arrested on Monday in Sagunto continued with his work to recruit and indoctrinate people in his immediate circle with whom he met under strict security measures. Furthermore, he acted as their reference on the Internet, teaching them not only how to access the most reserved pro-DAESH content, but also how to eliminate any tracks on the Internet that might lead to their detection by the law enforcement agencies.

The detainee displayed an anti-social personality, which can be deduced from his isolation and lack of social integration which led him to avoid all forms of contact with those people who did not profess his religion in the same terms as he did.

The operation, which remains ongoing, was developed under the supervision of Central Investigation Court Number 1 in coordination with the Public Prosecutor’s Office of the National High Court.

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 206 Jihadi terrorists in operations carried out in Spain and abroad and a total of 251 since the start of 2015.