The last crew of the narcolanche that killed two civil guards in Barbate

The Civil Guard has arrested in the province of Cádiz the fourth and last crew of the Narcolacha that, on February 9, 2024, rammed an official vessel in the port of Barbate, causing the death of the agents Miguel Ángel González and David Pérez. The arrested, on whom an international arrest warrant weighed since September 2024, has been made available to the Barbate number 1 Court of Instruction, which directs the investigation.

This arrest completes the operation that began with the arrest of Karim el Baqqali, boat pilot, in September 2024. The Baqqali, 32 years old and Moroccan nationality, was located in Barbate after having been hidden in Morocco. In his statement, he admitted to being the narcolanche pilot, although he claimed that he had no intention of killing the agents. The investigating judge charged him two crimes of consummate, four in a tentative degree, six attack against agents of the authority, smuggling and belonging to criminal organization.

In November 2024, two other crew members were arrested: Mohamed Laachiri and Yassine El Morabet. Both recognized their presence in the Narcolacha, but pointed to El Baqqali as the main responsible for the attack. They claimed that they did not expect that the Civil Guard boat was rammed and that, if they had known what happened, they would have helped the agents.

The murder of the two civil guards caused a strong shock in Spanish society and revived the debate about the fight against drug trafficking in the Gibraltar field. A year after the event, relatives, associations and local authorities made tributes in memory of the agents and claimed more resources to combat drug trafficking in the area