They had become a real threat. The six arrested last Friday in Ceuta, Ibiza and Madrid as alleged members of a terrorist cell linked to the Sahel branch of the Islamic State (ISIS) had an increasing determination to commit an action and had sought potential targets in their environment, according to sources close to the investigation. It was a “cohesive group” that had collected knives and cartridges, in addition to handling “very explicit” Islamic State material, in which reference was made to how to carry out attacks or how to manufacture devices.

The arrest of the group, aged between 30 and 50, was extended over the weekend, so that the agents could examine the seized material. This Monday they were brought to justice and the central investigative court number 1 of the National Court sent them all to prison. Two of them are accused of belonging to a terrorist organization, three for collaboration with a terrorist organization and another for self-indoctrination and self-training, according to legal sources, reports JJ Galvez.

Those investigated knew each other personally and also maintained contact through the internet. Two of them had known jobs and the rest were unemployed. As time went by, his radicalization escalated, according to sources familiar with the investigation. One of them showed “a clearer determination” to commit a violent act and an adherence to the doctrines of the terrorist organization in such a way that he felt part of it and surrounded himself with elements, such as utensils, that made him identify with ISIS. Some have relatives who have been combatants and others have received training in the conflict zone in the Sahel, they add. Two of them have police records for crimes related to jihadist terrorism in different proceedings, although they were acquitted.

The investigated cell is made up of “very radicalized individuals” and with a “will to carry out violent actions,” the police force has reported. He worked on the Ceuta-Castillejos axis, on both sides of the Spanish and Moroccan border. The Moroccan digital portal Hesspress reported on Friday that the detainees held meetings in the towns of Sebta and Tetuán to plan and coordinate and with the aim of committing terrorist acts in the name of ISIS,

The arrests are part of a joint operation by the National Police and the General Directorate of Territorial Surveillance (DGST, the Moroccan internal intelligence service). In addition to those detained in Spain, there are three others arrested in Tetouan and Fnideq, the latter a town better known as Castillejos and located seven kilometers from Ceuta.

In Ceuta, four arrests were made, in the neighborhoods of Príncipe Alfonso and Vicedo Martín. During the police action there were moments of tension. “Fuck you, cowards, fucking murderers,” one of the detainees shouted at the officers who were leading him to the police vehicle, and who was also heard mentioning Palestine.

The agents of the General Information Commissariat of the National Police, specialized in terrorism, had been following the movements of those involved for a year and a half. They saw that they were using social networks to, presumably, view and share philo-jihadist audiovisual material and after monitoring they verified that they were displaying “belligerent jihadist activity”, with “direct threats to the Western population and the Jewish community” and inciting attacks to be committed.

The collaboration of the Moroccan internal intelligence service has been key to the success of the operation, highlights the National Police. “The agents consider a real danger to the security of both countries neutralized,” concludes the police force. The researchers have had the collaboration of the provincial Information brigades of Ceuta, Segovia, Málaga and Madrid, and the local Information brigades of Ibiza and Algeciras. They have also received support from the European Union Agency for Police Cooperation (Europol).

Jihadism has been established for more than a decade in the African region of the Sahel, which includes Burkina Faso, Mali, Cameroon, Nigeria, Niger and Benin. It has not only caused thousands of deaths, three million displaced people and a serious humanitarian crisis, but also eroded the governments of the region and caused enormous political and social instability. The presence of these armed groups has become, in fact, one of the main threats to European security. In addition to a branch of ISIS, Jama’at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM, a coalition of groups linked to Al Qaeda) operates in this area of ​​Africa. According to the latest study by the International Observatory for Terrorism Studies (OIET), the activity of these groups has decreased in recent months, despite which in September alone they carried out 89 attacks in these six countries that caused 527 fatalities.