Spain: Two Moroccans Arrested For Jihadi Indoctrination, Recruitment

Two men, aged 25 and 27, of Moroccan nationality, in Badalona (Barcelona), were arrested for their alleged involvement in jihadi indoctrination and recruitment.

As a result of the arrests, the Guardia Civil are searching their homes with the aim of gathering evidence of their intense activity online and on the social media, where they maintained numerous contacts with individuals, both in Spain and abroad, according to the Spanish government.

The Spanish government said that the detainees were particularly vigilant with regard to security; they were permanently in contact and shared content over the Internet using secure means. Their concern for security could be clearly observed through their use of a high number of phone lines, some of which were probably obtained using fake identities.

As a result of their activity spreading jihadi ideals over the Internet, the detainees had managed to recruit several other individuals who they had convinced to travel to conflict zones to join terrorist groups operating there. The members of the dismantled terrorist cell had also made it patently clear through the social media, on many occasions, that they were willing to join up to the ranks of the Islamic State (DAESH) in Syria.

Furthermore, the two detainees – members of a stable cell that provided support to the terrorist group DAESH – had collaborated in financing the group through criminal activities related to drug trafficking and financial offences, according to the Spanish government.

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 185 Jihadist terrorists.