National Police arrest a member of Daesh's financial apparatus in Madrid
The jihadist arrested on Tuesday in Madrid has been accused by the National Police of participating in a crime of terrorist activities by being part of Daesh's "Office of Remedies" in Europe. He was in charge of sending and receiving money in many European and Arab countries through the hawala system, an informal mechanism for transferring funds that allows money to be sent anywhere in the world outside the ordinary financial system and administrative supervision. The detainee, despite his youth, was an experienced and specialized remittance agent, sending money to Syria from jihadist sympathizers who help Daesh through their financial contributions, according to the National Police in a press release available on its website.
During the arrest, officers conducted a search of the home and vehicle of the alleged jihadi, including material relevant to the investigation. The operation was carried out in collaboration with the Provincial Information Brigade of Madrid, the Provincial Information Brigade of Ceuta and the EUROPOL agency. The Audiencia Nacional has ordered this Thursday his admission to prison.
Since the end of May last year, the General Information Office has carried out two more operations in which two individuals have been arrested on charges of being part of Daesh's financial apparatus. The present investigation began after the analysis of the information obtained in those two previous operations, evidencing the existence of links, connections and common contacts between the two previous detainees and the now arrested one. All of them would have been operating in the same "Remittance Office", through which money was sent to the conflict zone.
The investigators have found that the financial structure used by the arrested man was part of a transnational network with links in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. The investigation found a structure established mainly in Syria, consisting of financial officers and combatants, who worked closely together to provide financial support to various foreign terrorists and operational members of Daesh who were ready to return to Europe.
The agents specialized in the fight against terrorism have verified that the senders contacted through social networks with philo-jihadist individuals of diverse nationalities to demand financing. Once this contact was established, they organized the communication of Daesh's financial officer on Syrian soil with the possible financer.
It has been determined that these financial leaders managed a network of trusted contacts in the West, in charge of facilitating the movement of capital contributed by the sympathizers, with the aim of financing actions to reorganize the terrorist structures. The arrested man, like the two previous detainees, tried to keep a low profile in his "day-to-day" life, taking numerous security measures in his activities and movements in order to avoid being detected by the police.