The first vice president and counselor of the Presidency, Health, and Emergencies of the Junta de Andalucía, Antonio Sanz, has demanded from the Government of Spain an "urgent, quick, and effective reaction" in the face of the rise of drug trafficking "that is increasingly spreading to more territory in Andalucía."
Sanz has spoken this way in Almonte, in a media briefing, after being questioned about the deadly shooting that occurred last Sunday in the Huelva town of Isla Cristina.
The Andalusian official has expressed the "concern" of the regional government and has accused the Ministry of the Interior of "neglect of responsibilities." In his view, this "inaction" is facilitating that "organized crime runs rampant" and that "drug trafficking mafias spread to more territory" within the community.
"Today all provinces are affected by drug trafficking mafias and that is due to the abandonment by the Ministry of the Interior in the fight and, above all, in the protection that must be given to our State Security Forces and Bodies," Sanz has criticized.
In this line, he has denounced the absence of specific measures and reinforcements to address this situation. "There are no regulatory changes, there are no more means, there are no more resources, there is no more personnel, and there are no more specialized units," he has pointed out, emphasizing that there is no "more capacity to fight against this terrible scourge that requires a response."
For this reason, the Junta de Andalucía demands an "immediate" intervention from the central government. "We must respond urgently, quickly, and effectively, because credibility as a State is lost and, logically, it generates unease among those who fight, such as the police forces," he has emphasized.
At the end of his speech, Sanz has reiterated the request for police work to be recognized as a high-risk activity. He lamented that the Security Forces and Bodies "have not even been recognized yet as a risk profession," a demand that, he recalled, has been raised by the Andalusian government "for a long time."