THREE Spanish Civil Guard officers and four members of the National Police found themselves under attack from around a hundred people who hurled stones at them, allowing criminals to unload their shipment onto a beach between the communities of El Tonelero and El Burgo, some five kilometers north of Gibraltar. All seven officers were injured in the incident and a patrol vehicle had its windows smashed.
The attack is just the latest in a similar series of incidents in recent days in the area around Gibraltar, known as Campo de Gibraltar.
On Sunday evening, two local police officers in the nearby town of San Roque were injured after a car deliberately crashed into them while they were chasing another vehicle they suspected was carrying drugs.
Encinas says that over the last week, other officers have been attacked in the area bordering Gibraltar, a well-known delivery point for drug shipments brought by motor launches from Morocco. “A Civil Guard patrol vessel was harried by four high-speed semi-rigid boats occupied by around a dozen drug traffickers,” said José Encinas.
The SUP police union has also expressed its concern at what it sees as the lack of resources that is putting officers at risk when tackling drug traffickers.
Encinas is calling for “immediate measures so as to avoid worse damage,” which would involve declaring the affected part of the coast “a special conflict” zone, meaning that it would be given greater resources. “But it has been known for some time that more resources are needed, and the authorities have done nothing,” says the AUGC.
