Barbate reignites debate on using lethal force against drug smugglers

Barbate reignites debate on using lethal force against drug smugglers

Can the state respond with gunfire when a drug boat rams a patrol vessel? The death of two civil guards in Barbate, run over by a 14-meter traficante-boat while patrolling in a Zodiac, has brought to the forefront a recurring debate whenever a uniformed officer is killed. In the discussion, VOX leader Santiago Abascal simply answered "Yes," defending the use of lethal force against Strait smugglers. This stance reopens the core question: are there insufficient technical means, or a lack of political will to use them?

What peine in Barbate and why the case exploded

The deceased officers were traveling in a small boat facing a 14-meter drug vessel. This disparity in resources is the first undisputed fact. The second came later: two clans broke into the Barbate Civil Guard barracks and left three officers injured. Portraying the incident as an isolated accident became impossible after this assault on an official facility during an ongoing investigation.

The area is described as a "traficante-territory" where many people live, directly or indirectly, from the business and its ripple effects. In La Línea, Barbate, or Zahara, trafficking is not a incivil anecdote: it is an parallel economy with social reach, conditioning any police operation. When a neighborhood's livelihood depends on hashish, police pressure becomes a community issue.

Force as doctrine: machine guns and authorized fire

The most repeated proposal involves equipping the Civil Guard and the Customs Surveillance Service with 12.70 millimeter caliber machine guns, arming police helicopters, and authorizing gunfire when vessels do not stop. The argument relies on an uncomfortable neighbor: Gibraltar does it, supporters claim, and no one questions its democracy.

Under this logic, the only alternative would be to withdraw Police and Civil Guard forces and let clans operate freely, something described as characteristic of a banana republic. This position reduces the problem to a matter of rules of engagement. And it ignores, critics say, that the Strait has had more means and plans on the table for decades.

Are resources lacking or tolerance excessive?

The chief prosecutor of Cádiz warned that they are fighting "in absolute inferiority" against drug smugglers, as they have all means while the Civil Guard lacks similar resources. The Defense Minister expressed openness to collaborating against drug trafficking in Andalusia if Interior requests it. The fine print remains: according to published reports, Interior dismantled an elite Strait unit despite knowing smugglers possessed war arsenals.

The opposing view is widespread. Resources do not prevent trafficking: they have multiplied up to fifty times in half a century, according to a calculation circulating in the debate, yet trafficking is higher than ever. From this perspective, the bottleneck is not material, but legal and political. There is a call for social support, legal coverage, and, above all, the will to use them.

The politics of gesture: who benefits from demanding a hard line?

A hard line is also an electoral message. Those who demand it seek the vote of police forces, a fishing ground fought over with headlines that does not always translate into votes. Some argue this electorate ultimately votes for whoever raises their salary, ignoring other promises. The most repeated criticism of VOX's message is the usual one: it comes too late, sounds like cheap demagoguery, and, once in power, amounts to mere gestures.

Nor is there anyone who looks back to remember that past dirty war experiments ended in botched jobs and wasted public money. The lesson does not invite optimism.