Ana Escobar/EPA
Between looting and stolen hams, there are also those who try to take advantage of the catastrophic situation in Valencia to traffic drugs, dressed as volunteers to avoid suspicion.
During a security operation in AlbalValencia, the Spanish Civil Guard detained three people who, posing as humanitarian aid volunteers, were transporting garbage bags full of marijuana.
The detainees were equipped with rubber boots and reflective vests, and were trying to remain unnoticed in the context of humanitarian aid that followed the heavy rains in the region, which has been ravaging the Valencian Community — but also Barcelona and Málaga — for almost two weeks.
According to the authorities, the traffickers’ clothing imitated that of the volunteers, “to avoid suspicion”, the Spanish newspaper quotes this Tuesday.
The intervention was carried out by the Citizen Security Unit (USECIC) of the ‘Guardia Civil’, deployed to the affected area to reinforce security in the face of the largest number of looting, robberies and other crimes in the Valencian Community since the flood fell there: have already been 371 people detained linked in the region, according to data from the Ministry of the Interior.
Civil Guard sources reported that “operations will continue to be active to protect the population and ensure that aid reaches those who really need it safely”.
The detainees, accused of drug trafficking and posing as volunteers in emergency operations, have already been brought to justice.
