A joint police operation deployed in the historic center of Valls between February 20 and March 26 has resulted in 328 people identified, 81 vehicles controlled, and several arrests linked to drugs, squatting, and electricity fraud. The operation, coordinated by the Mossos d'Esquadra together with the Local Police, the National Police, the Civil Guard, and the Labor Inspectorate, focused on points with a concentration of people of police interest and with indications of illegal activities.
The action was framed within the Citizen Security Protection Law. During those weeks, 17 records were drawn up for infractions, mostly for possession of drugs and bladed weapons. Detentions were also carried out due to active judicial orders, illegal occupation of dwellings with the use of bladed weapons, drug trafficking, fraud of electrical fluid, and assault against agents of authority.
Seized 800 grams of marijuana and 60 grams of cocaine and heroin
Among the most relevant actions is the arrest of a person who was carrying 400 grams of marijuana in the middle of the public street. In the whole of the operation, the agents seized 800 grams of marijuana and 60 grams of cocaine and heroin.
Furthermore, in one of the inspected premises, a worker was arrested as the alleged perpetrator of a drug trafficking crime. In parallel, the agents recovered a motorcycle that was listed as stolen.
An indoor plantation discovered after a fire
The operation also allowed locating an indoor plantation with 250 marijuana plants in a property affected by a fire originated by an illegal connection to the electrical grid. The tenant of the dwelling was arrested as the alleged perpetrator of crimes against public health and electricity fraud.
During these weeks, five cases of electrical fraud and eight of housing occupation were denounced, two of the focuses on which a good part of the device in the historic center of the city pivoted.
Inspections in premises and immigration, labor, and taxation actions
In the administrative sphere, 16 inspections were carried out in establishments where irregularities were detected such as lack of administrative authorization, absence of insurance, and sanitary non-compliance. The Local Police also detected 46 infractions related to municipal ordinances.
The National Police processed 16 summonses for immigration infractions and made an arrest that ended with the admission of the arrested person to an internment center. For its part, the Civil Guard drew up 27 reports for tax and labor infractions and seized more than 15 kilos of shisha tobacco.
Decrease in crimes against property
Police data show that, during the period in which the operation was carried out, crimes against property decreased by 26.1% in Valls and by 14.3% in the Alt Camp as a whole.
The second phase of the operation has already started this week. The objective now is to intensify patrolling in the historic center, identify the people occupying about sixty homes and detect possible electrical frauds with the support of specialized technicians, in a new series of actions on one of the points that concentrates the most police pressure in the capital of Alt Camp.