Catalunya registers an average of two shootings per week and in 2025 these incidents have increased by 35%. The increase coincides, however, with a drop in homicides committed with firearms and narco-assaults, as explained by Ramon Chacón, head of the Criminal Investigation General Commissariat of the Mossos d'Esquadra.
The paradox described by the police commander is that there are more weapons and more shootings, but not more fatal attacks with this type of armament. Chacón linked this change to the marijuana market, which has extended the possession of weapons among criminals who did not use them before and who now acquire them to defend themselves or to intimidate.
Chacón attributes the increase to the marijuana business
In an interview on Catalunya Ràdio, Chacón maintained that the marijuana phenomenon has introduced more firearms into the criminal world. He also specified that some individuals involved in that criminal environment buy them to protect themselves from narco-assaults.
"The marijuana phenomenon has caused there to be more firearms in the criminal world, that certain criminals who did not use them now need to buy them to defend themselves from narco-assaults" - Ramon Chacón, head of the Criminal Investigation General Commissariat, Mossos d'Esquadra
The head of the CGIC added that the display of force weighs as much as the practical use of the weapon. In his description, many shootings aim to intimidate or mark territory rather than hit a specific target.
He placed there scenes that, in the opinion of the police commander, show an extension of firearms beyond disputes between criminal groups. Chacón said that the Mossos d'Esquadra have detected a trivialization of this use, with shots fired into the air after a football team's victory or during New Year's celebrations.
The Guàrdia Urbana requests long weapons after the seizure of 12 rifles
In parallel, the SIP-Fepol union of the Guàrdia Urbana has requested that local police forces be allowed to use long weapons. Their argument is that the weapons regulation governing these forces dates back to 1993 and only authorizes handguns.
Daniel Bernalte, general secretary of the union, assured that municipal agents are not prepared for this type of crime. To support this request, he cited the seizure of 12 war rifles intercepted on the AP-7 by the Mossos d'Esquadra last week.
Mossos ask to share ballistic data with European police forces
Faced with this scenario, the Mossos d'Esquadra advocate for closer coordination with other European police forces to track drug trafficking mafias. The proposal involves sharing ballistics information with a system similar to the one already used for DNA and fingerprints.
Chacón summarized this logic with another idea about the evolution of the criminal market. "Everyone wants to be the one who intimidates the most, the big trafficker," stated the head of the CGIC.
The SIP-Fepol union bases its claim on the fact that the local police's arms regulations, in force since 1993, only allow these forces to carry handguns.