Last May the Guardia Civil stormed the Guadalquivir estuary to stop a hashish shipment. On that occasion, the traffickers fought to salvage their cargo in a forceful move, firing with war-grade weapons. Five months later, the response to a shift of power between two drug clans from the Tres Mil Viviendas neighborhood, the Caracoleños and the Naranjeros, has followed a similar pattern: warnings sent into the air as rifle shots.
Officials say they have detected sophisticated weapons that had not been seen here before. This aligns with the growing arsenal at the disposal of traffickers: today the narcotics groups arm themselves more than ever for their own security, says a crime expert who wishes to remain unnamed. He adds that there are frequent cargo thefts among the groups and the weapons are meant to deter rivals, a point echoed by officials familiar with the situation.
For roughly six to eight years there have been outfits that organize hijackings to steal shipments. They began with cocaine and later turned to marijuana because it yields substantial profits. The guards protecting the drugs stay on high alert and use extreme violence against any potential thief. The death of Dani the Turk, who tried one of these raids, stands as a recent example: members of a rival gang shot him and left him dying at the entrance of the Viamed hospital in the Bellavista district.
The clash between Caracoleños and Naranjeros occurred, as this newspaper learned, after a marijuana hijacking. The shell casings found by the National Police and the sounds captured in video footage align with this pattern: after a drug theft by a rival clan, larger-caliber bullets appear. A seasoned analyst notes that this was clearly meant as a warning to the other side.
If you have money for a rifle, you will find one
The drug traffickers who fired at the Civil Guard in Sanlúcar de Barrameda used Western-made weapons that were destined for a larger conflict abroad, according to earlier reporting. The origin is not always the main factor; many of these rifles come from factories in the old Soviet bloc, and an industry insider points out that a large share are AK-47 variants modified for local use.
The illegal market for war weapons is not new, only that local drug gangs are turning to it now as part of a reinvestment in arms. The firearms they obtain can be acquired through various channels; those with the money to pay for a rifle will find one. In Andalusia the armament most often seen belongs to this model, whether automatic or semi-automatic, according to experts.
Fortunately, they have not faced us yet
Officials say that, fortunately, law enforcement has not confronted these groups directly except during search operations where officers suspect a burglary, explains Ángel Becerra, regional secretary of the Unified Police Union. Yet the fear that they could turn weapons against officers is ever-present because protection against war weapons seized in the area remains insufficient. This representative adds that more police are needed in the capital: the roster shows over 90 percent staffing, but the actual numbers have not kept pace with population growth and have not been renewed since 2010. He argues that events like the recent shooting make it clear that the police profession should be declared a risk occupation, a status that has been requested for years.
The tension remains high in a neighborhood where residents fear this incident could spark a war between clans armed with semi-automatic firearms. The fear has triggered multiple emergency calls on the city’s line reporting new gunfire, though the Subdelegation of the Government says it has no record of such incidents.