Almeria province better-equipped to fight drugs mafias

ALMERIA PROVINCE is now included in the central government’s Campo de Gibraltar Security Plan.

Manuel de la Fuente, Madrid’s sub-delegate to Almeria, described the news of Almeria’s inclusion as “awaited, requested and absolutely necessary.”

The Security Plan was originally launched in Cadiz in 2018 to combat criminal gangs engaged in drug trafficking but was expanded in 2020 to include Hueva in Malaga and has been expanded once again with the addition of Almeria, Granada and Sevilla.

With 2022’s total allocation of €35 million, more personnel can be taken, including 300 more Policia Nacional and Guardia Civil officers for Almeria province, De la Fuente informed the provincial media.

More human and material resources would boost operational capacity, the sub-delegate added: “This will increase effectiveness and improve public safety.”

De la Fuente also pointed out that Almeria’s inclusion in the Security Plan would “directly affect activities in some Almeria neighbourhoods.”

Improved resources would allow the security forces to crack down more efficiently on indoor marihuana plantations, inevitably coupled with illegal electricity connections.

“It will also make it easier to counteract the decline in neighbourhoods that are occupied by mafias,” he said.