PSOE-A accuses Moreno of inaction against drug trafficking whilst avoiding dismantling of OCON-Sur
The PSOE-A demands measures against drug trafficking from the president of the regional government, but omits that it was the Sánchez Government which abolished the specialist Civil Guard unit in 2022.
PSOE-A pressures Moreno over drugs without mentioning the end of OCON-Sur
The PSOE-A called on the president of the regional government, Juanma Moreno, on Monday to adopt concrete measures against drug trafficking and accused him of maintaining a "hypocritical" attitude and of "having done absolutely nothing" in his eight years in government. According to ABC, the secretary for Statutory Development of the Andalusian socialists, Mario Jiménez, demanded that the regional executive activate its powers in health, education and justice, and abandon what he described as a policy of confrontation with the Government of Pedro Sánchez.
Jiménez further criticised that the PP executive has not fulfilled its commitment to create "an Andalusian anti-drugs office to coordinate all actions" by the regional Administration in the fight against drug trafficking.
A campaign with a notable blind spot
The socialist criticism, however, presents a fundamental contradiction. The policing pursuit of drug trafficking falls fundamentally to the State, not to the Autonomous Community. The Junta of Andalusia has significant powers in prevention, healthcare, social services and means of the Administration of Justice, but neither directs the Civil Guard nor the National Police, the bodies tasked with directly combating organisations engaged in drug trafficking.
It is precisely in that sphere that the PSOE-A's campaign appears most striking. The Sánchez Government decided in 2022 to dissolve the specific structure of OCON-Sur, the Civil Guard unit created in 2018 to combat drug trafficking in the Campo de Gibraltar. The Ministry of the Interior then argued that its personnel, bases and resources would be integrated into the permanent investigation units of the various commands.
The consequences of the end of OCON-Sur
The decision was controversial at the time and remains so. The Anti-Drug Prosecutor's Office of Andalusia linked in its 2022 report the reduction in proceedings for drug trafficking in Cádiz to a "lesser police pressure" and the disappearance of the OCON-Sur operational group. Hashish seizures also fell significantly compared to the previous year.
The nature of the abolished unit makes the contrast even more evident. OCON-Sur was not an administrative office nor a regionally-based prevention programme, but a specialist Civil Guard unit dedicated to investigating drug trafficking organisations, money laundering and organised crime. During its operation it was the driving force behind numerous operations against major gangs based in Andalusia.
Regional powers that can indeed be demanded
The foregoing does not exempt the Junta from its own responsibilities. Jiménez himself points in his statement to areas in which the Andalusian Government does have direct powers: more human and technical resources in the courts in the most affected areas, prevention measures aimed at young people and special conditions to fill posts of civil servants in health, education and justice in the Campo de Gibraltar. These are matters perfectly open to political scrutiny.
Demanding that Moreno fulfil those powers is legitimate. Presenting the Andalusian Government as the principal responsible for the fight against drug trafficking networks is another matter.
The central Government's Special Plan, in force
The central Executive itself today maintains a Special Security Plan for the Campo de Gibraltar that covers six Andalusian provinces. The V Plan, in force until the end of 2027, envisages for 2026 an investment of 38.2 million euros in reinforcement of staffing, material resources, technology and research, with the National Police and Civil Guard as the main actors.
Despite this, the PSOE-A concentrates its campaign on Moreno. Jiménez accuses the president of sitting "idly by" within his powers whilst attacking the Government of Spain, and contends that the regional president uses drug trafficking to divert attention from fires and the state of healthcare.
The political paradox
The argument has a clear political reading: the Andalusian socialists seek to place the president of the Junta before the problem of drug trafficking, even though direct police competence is not regional. And they do so at a time when the main precedent for a controversial decision on specialist means against drug trafficking corresponds precisely to Sánchez's socialist Executive.
The paradox is difficult to ignore. The PSOE now demands more action from the Junta whilst the central Government—to which Moreno is asked for "dialogue, understanding and coordination"—was the one that chose to replace the specific structure of OCON-Sur with its integration into the commands. The Junta has obligations to fulfil and the PSOE has every right to demand them. But converting that demand into an accusation of inaction is more difficult to sustain if, at the same time, the socialists do not assume the part of responsibility that corresponds to the Administration that commands the Police and Civil Guard. In the fight against drug trafficking there are many powers, but not all carry the same weight.
Source: ABC