Over 800 police officers target multiple-time offenders around Barcelona and nearby cities

Over 800 police officers, including Catalan Mossos d'Esquadra, the Spanish National Police, local police, and port police, took part in a new Kanpai scheme targeting multiple-time offenders across Barcelona.

The deployment was also in nearby cities like Badalona, Sant Adrià, Santa Coloma, Hospitalet, Esplugues, Cornellà, and El Prat, as well as in significant infrastructure such as the airport and the metro network.

On Saturday midday, Mossos d'Esquadra police reported that 70 people had been detained, and that they have a total of 577 previous offenses combined. A total of 34 people were investigated and 122 complaints for drug or weapon possession were issued. Mossos also recovered two robbed vehicles, confiscated six e-scooters and issued 74 traffic fines. 

This is the tenth Kanpai scheme set in motion since the plan was created in April. The Catalan interior minister, Núria Parlon, took part in the briefing before the campaign began on Friday afternoon and encouraged law enforcement agents to work toward "changing the feeling of impunity that delinquents have."

She said that the "pioneer and innovative" Kanpai plan is also proper not only to improve residents' sense of safety, but also to deter delinquents from considering Catalonia a place to act without consequences. She also praised the coordination between the several law enforcement agents.

The tenth plan Kanpai began at 2:30 pm on Friday and ended around 6:00 am on Saturday, with dozens of police officers taking part, including Mossos' riot police, aerial support, K9 units (dogs), and many other units.

In addition, members of the transport division also conducted controls at metro stations such as Torrassa, Hospitalet de Llobregat, and Sagrera. This last station is a hub and "a lot of people use it," with very different backgrounds, Eugeni Tarajuelo, head of security at the Mossos Public Transport unit, said.

One of their goals is to detect knives and similar weapons. On Friday, agents found between four and six knives in Sagrera, many stolen public transport tickets, and identified up to five active pickpockets. Police also confiscated many drugs.

During the evening, at the Arc de Triomf station of the metro L1 red line, an active pickpocket tried to rob some Japanese tourists. He was surprised by the police and ran away through the metro tunnel. His actions forced a temporary halt to the metro service. Police were able to detain him for robbery, disobedience to law enforcement agents, and public disorder.

The arrested is a "multiple-time offender for violent robberies," Tarajuelo told media outlets on site.