Karim El Baqqali, 32, is set to testify this Friday at the Court of First Instance and Instruction No. 1 in Barbate, Cadiz, one day after his arrest by the Civil Guard over the murder of two Guardia Civil officers last February, when a boat plowed into a Guardia Civil vessel in a deeply painful incident that shocked the national law enforcement community. [Civil Guard statement; 2024]
His arrest occurred in the early hours, the result of investigations by the Central Operations Unit of the Civil Guard, which sources familiar with the case say worked in cooperation with officers from the Cadiz Command. Karim was taken to those Cadiz offices after being detained at the port of Barbate, a move confirmed by a video released by the Civil Guard. This arrangement ensures that no other court will be involved beyond the one handling the inquiry from the start, according to judicial sources. [Judicial sources; 2024]
Under Secrecy
The proceedings have been declared secret, so few further details about the operation, activated seven months after the deaths of agents David Pérez and Miguel Ángel González, have been disclosed. Civil Guard associations hailed the arrest as an important advance, though groups like Jucil call for accountability at all levels for alleged misplanning of the operation. [Guardia Civil associations; 2024]
The families of the victims asked that the footage from that night not be reproduced, as a powerful narcolancha tore past a Guardia Civil boat in the Barbate harbor. The incident highlighted the struggle against narcotics trafficking in the Cádiz area and exposed the limitations in official resources facing criminal networks. [Judicial commentary; 2024]
A Troublesome Piece
Karim had become a troublesome piece for his organization due to mounting pressure from the Civil Guard, which after months of investigation tightened its grip on him. Case sources say his own clan, based in Morocco and allegedly tied to narcotrafficking, urged him to surrender to Spanish authorities as the surrounding environment grew unbearable for the accused. The detainee is reported to have been at the controls of the narcolancha that on February 9 ran over a Guardia Civil boat in Barbate, before fleeing the scene and evading capture. [Authorities, 2024]
While the government delegate in Andalusia, Pedro Fernández, highlighted close cooperation with Morocco and expressed satisfaction at the arrest, sources consulted by this newspaper say the collaboration did not amount to a handover. Morocco has cooperated, but no favors have been exchanged. [Source notes; 2024]
The role of the neighboring country has consisted in providing timely information to the UCO upon requests routed through a police liaison office, as the investigation progressed. [Official briefings; 2024]
International Orders
The Barbate court has issued three international arrest warrants for the other three occupants of the narcolancha. The Guardia Civil states they are believed to be outside Spain, with positions dating back to just before the events. [Instituto Armado; 2024]
As a result of the February case, the UCO had by the end of last week prepared a file with enough evidence and leads about the possible involvement and locations of the four suspected boatmen believed to be responsible for the killings of the two Guardia Civil officers, all Moroccan nationals, and had submitted to the court the request for warrants. The file points to four suspects and indicates that their possible locations were in Moroccan territory. [UCO file; 2024]
The First Mistake
Soon after the homicides, six people were arrested aboard a semi-rigid boat off the Campo de Gibraltar. At the head was Kiko el Cabra, who was then considered the prime suspect by authorities. They were sent to provisional detention while investigations continued. [Investigation notes; 2024]
In May, a report by the Central Operations Unit challenged this hypothesis: Kiko el Cabra was not the person. After a thorough analysis of the footage captured the afternoon of the tragedy, it was concluded that the vessel carrying the six detainees did not match the one that killed the two Guardia Civil officers. [UCO findings; 2024]
The investigation had planned to request international arrest warrants for the four men accused of the killings, and four warrants would have been activated, likely on Thursday, were it not for Karim’s arrest. [Investigative timeline; 2024]