Overview
- Police from Mossos d’Esquadra and the Guardia Urbana said they dismantled the group after an investigation that led to a coordinated operation in which 18 people were arrested in an operation on May 19.
- Officers seized a loaded firearm, large knives and machetes, defensive sprays, batons and masks during searches in Barcelona, Montcada i Reixac and Ripollet.
- Authorities charged members with belonging to a criminal group, weapons possession, drug trafficking, violent robberies, assaults and four attempted homicides, and a judge ordered seven adults to pretrial detention while two minors were placed in closed centers.
- Investigators describe a hierarchical structure with a leader, coordinators and 'soldiers' who often were minors used to move drugs and carry out attacks while the group used social media to recruit and display its identity.
- Police say the case fits a wider rise of violent youth groups in the metropolitan area — they estimate five to ten active gangs — and they continue probes into possible links with other violent episodes, including the recent death of a 15-year-old at La Pegaso that has not been publicly connected to this gang.