The Provincial Association of the Meat Industries of Huelva (AIC Huelva), integrated in the Huelva Business Federation (FOE), held a meeting with the Sub-delegation of the Government and senior officers of the Guardia Civil to analyze the protection of the facilities of the Iberian sector in the weeks prior to Christmas.
As the organization stated in a press release, the meeting was called due to the concern existing among companies about the thefts recorded in previous campaigns in the Sierra de Aracena and Picos de Aroche, a time when the value of the stored product multiplies the economic damage of any theft. At the meeting, it was explained that, so far this year, there have been two thefts, a figure lower than that recorded in equivalent periods of previous years.
Reinforced surveillance since the start of autumn
The representatives of the Guardia Civil explained that the surveillance device has been intensified since the start of autumn and that this reinforcement remains active. The sector requested that this deployment be maintained in a stable manner each year from October until mid-December and that it be incorporated into fixed planning, without the need to convene new meetings in each campaign. As was noted, the calendar agreed upon the previous year has been applied in the present year as well.
AIC Huelva also raised the advisability of increasing nighttime surveillance on the roads and paying special attention to vans and small-tonnage trucks. The Guardia Civil took note of this demand in order to move forward with an operation which, as was detailed, already combines patrols with identified vehicles and others that travel incognito at night.
"DIRECT COMMUNICATION, PREVENTION AND RAPID RESPONSE"
Among the actions studied, the reinforcement of a direct communication channel between the association and the officials of the Guardia Civil in each of the production areas was included. The senior officers of the corps conveyed their willingness to maintain that line of communication whenever it is necessary to address this or other matters within their competence.
Likewise, at the meeting the option of reviewing the security of the facilities of those companies that request it was discussed, with the aim of "detecting improvements that complement the measures adopted by the security forces". It was also proposed to develop and distribute among the companies a rapid action protocol in the event of theft completed or attempted.
In this sense, it was emphasized "the importance of reporting the facts as soon as possible" and "of taking extra care when it comes to vehicles with unusual behavior or that frequent the vicinity of the facilities without an apparent reason".
The attendees positively valued the idea of placing cameras on the main roads through the municipalities of the region to facilitate the identification of vehicles that might be involved in robberies. The initiative is aimed especially at towns with meat-related industries and with main roads connected to national or secondary roads, and would require the collaboration of the town councils.
In addition, AIC Huelva set out the need to put in place aid that would allow companies to hire private security services. At the meeting, it was stated that this proposal must be submitted to the competent administrations in order to analyze the feasibility of a specific support line.
The meeting was attended by the general secretary of the Sub-delegation of the Government in Huelva, Manuel Iglesias; the commanding officer (colonel) of the Guardia Civil Command in Huelva, Julio Serrano; and the commanding officer (lieutenant colonel) in charge of Operations, Jorge Fajardo.
Representing the business organizations, the general secretary of the FOE, Daniel Caldentey; the president of AIC Huelva, Luis González; and members of its Board of Directors Joaquín Ramos, Juan Luis Galván, Gerardo Eíriz and Plácido García attended. The Sub-delegation and the Guardia Civil reiterated their willingness to cooperate closely with the Iberian sector, something that AIC Huelva and FOE consider key because of the high value of the products and because of the impact that a robbery can have on companies of smaller size.