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The operation that dismantled the logistics base of the Galician Resistance, carried out by the National Antiterrorist Unit (UNCT) of the Judicial Police (PJ) and coordinated by the Public Ministry of Coimbra, was known for the first time this Monday, but took place in November from last year.
The joint action between the Spanish and Portuguese authorities was announced for the first time in Spain on the radio website Cope.es and was officially confirmed.
On November 9, 2019, after sharing information and police cooperation between the two States, a building was located in Coimbra, associated with the leaders of the Galician Resistance and used as a “retirement home”
On November 9, 2019, after sharing information and police cooperation between the two States, a property was located in Coimbra, associated with the leaders of the “Galician Resistance” and used as a “retirement home”, confirmed the PJ. .
In a statement, the Judiciary said that “A vast probative material was seized, related to the terrorist activities carried out by this independence group, in particular, numerous tools used in the manufacture of explosive devices / devices, namely, watches, timers and mobile phones prepared as an activation device remote from explosive charges improvised pyrotechnic devices and explosive devices, a total load of approximately 30 kg of gunpowder, books, handwritten notes and propaganda manifestos of the ideals of the Galician Resistance ”.
The PJ reveals that “a pressure cooker was also seized for containing explosive charges, similar to those used by this terrorist group in different attacks, as well as material used to forge documents, such as stamps from Spanish public institutions and hot rolling mills.” .
It adds that “the seized material was sent to the Spanish authorities duly packed.”
As the DN was able to verify, the material was stored in a garage of a building, in a degraded area of the center of Coimbra.
This arrest, kept secret until now, was the culmination of a joint investigation process between the Spanish and Portuguese authorities and took place about five months after the head of this organization, Antón García Matos “Toninho” and María Asunción Losada Camba, fugitive from Justice since 2006.
The investigation found that María Asunción rented that space in 2014 where she was seen on several occasions, according to testimonies collected by the police.
“Toninho” was never seen in this area, he was the leader of the terrorist organization and also specialized in the manufacture and handling of explosive devices.
Last attack in 2014
The couple, it is recalled, was arrested in Vigo in June last year, along with another employee. Matos and Camba are considered the most responsible for the armed independence movement of the Galician Resistance that both conceived in 2005, heirs to the structure of the Ceive Galician People’s Guerrilla Army.
Since his arrest, no one else had gone to the Coimbra garage and the place was only detected by the investigation, through information crossing.
Since his arrest, no one else had come to the Coimbra garage and the place was only detected by the investigation, through the information crossing.
The Guerrilla performed in Galicia between 1987 and 1991, leaving three dead as a result of the attack on the Clangor nightclub in Santiago de Compostela, and another in which a Civil Guard agent died in Irixoa (A Coruña).
Since 2005, more than four dozen attacks have been reported, most of which have caused only property damage.
Until their arrest in 2019, the couple had been, at least since July 2014, off the radar of authorities.
Until their arrest in 2019, the couple had been, at least since July 2014, off the radar of authorities.
In July of that year, García Matos had released a video defending the armed struggle and in October, also of that year, the Galician Resistance claimed its last known terrorist action, with the Placing a bomb in the City Council of Baralla was (Lugo), whose explosion caused serious material damage.
Retreat to Coimbra
Apparently, the bosses will have withdrawn and gathered material in Coimbra in that garage. All the material was packed in suitcases and boxes. Diverse literature related to independent nationalist movements, including ETA, was also apprehended.
Last September, the Spanish Public Ministry said that “the terrorist group Resistencia Gallega is considered almost dismantled”, since in all of 2019 “there were no terrorist actions” on their part.
The Spanish deputy says that “although the Galician Resistance is almost completely dismantled” it still “remains a threat.”
However, the Spanish deputy says that “although the Galician Resistance is almost completely dismantled,” it still “continues to be a threat.”
The UNCT has maintained in recent years a close relationship with the Spanish authorities in the investigation and control of this independence movement in the national territory.
In 2014, the Spanish police suspected that at least 15 officers lived in Portugal.
In addition to “Toninho” and Assucíon, whose regular presence in Portugal was under suspicion by the authorities until their arrest, other agents were being controlled by PJ investigators.
Historical connection to Portugal
In 2006, remember, explosive devices were seized in an abandoned house in Vieira do Minho, about 40 kilometers from the Spanish border. There was also propaganda material from the Galician Resistance.
In 2015, Héctor José Naya Gil, 33, was arrested on Wednesday at the Francisco Sá Carneiro airport in Porto, when trying to board a flight to Caracas (Venezuela), with a false Venezuelan passport.
He was suspected of planning an attack against the headquarters of the PP in Pontevedra and had been sentenced to 11 years in prison, 5 years for “participating in a terrorist organization”, plus six years for “placing explosive devices for terrorist purposes.”
But the action of the PJ in the fight against this organization that defends the independence of Galicia, dates back to the 90s.
In a book published in 2015 by two UNCT inspectors, one of them involved in investigations related to the Galician Resistance, it is said that “1991 would mark the extension, to Portuguese territory, of the criminal activities and operational movements of the main separatist organization, Galicia”.
Initially called the Ceive Galician People’s Guerrilla Army (EGPGC), it would appear in Portugal “essentially on the basis of the mediation provided by Portuguese activists who joined the organization,” these policemen tell in the book “Base Mike”, where the main investigations of the UNCT, former Central Directorate for the Fight against Banditry (DCCB).
This group “extended its field of action to the national territory, not precisely with the intention of carrying out violent operations, but above all to have strongholds of logistical support and withdrawal, thus resorting to private homes.”
According to these researchers, this group “extended its field of action to the national territory, not precisely with the intention of carrying out violent operations, but mainly to have logistical support and to move back bastions, thus resorting to private residences, in the Sesimbra region and S Martinho do Porto, for deposits of explosive materials.
In October 1991, the then DCCB, in an operation with the Spanish police, searched one of the group’s retirement homes., seizure of different explosive materials (gelamonites and rubber candles, detonators, electrical cables, slow cord and detonator).
In addition to the cases of Susana Poças and Alexandra Vaz Pinheiro, who were tried and convicted in Spain for joining the Galician Resistance, there are no other Portuguese directly or indirectly involved with the group. There are no Portuguese defendants constituted in this process.
During the investigation, the PJ guarantees that “in addition to the logistical connections with the national territory, no other effective connection or direct participation of national citizens in the terrorist organization was identified.”
Updated at 11:30 am with the PJ statement
