The Police intervened in the device to boycott the Vuelta in an operation criticized by ERC and Junts

It was hidden in the access to a tunnel and was made up of two drums of 200 liters each, as well as an activation mechanism.

The National Police intervened on Saturday the device made up of two drums and tubes devised by the four detainees in Lleida who allegedly intended to boycott the Cycling Tour of Spain by throwing oil onto the road, in an operation that was censored by ERC and Junts, who requested the freedom for those arrested amid criticism of police action.

In a statement, the National Police gave details of 'Operation Splendor' on Tuesday, showing the images in which an agent can be seen when he detects the storage system for 400 liters of a liquid "similar to motor oil" that They intended to activate to boycott the passage of the cycling peloton during the stage on Monday, August 28, between the towns of Suria (Barcelona) and Arinsal (Andorra).

The detainees were placed this Monday at the disposal of the head of the Court of First Instance and Instruction of Solsona (Lleida), being provisionally released. The proceedings have been declared secret and those arrested are charged with the crimes of belonging to a criminal group, public disorder, against road safety and against the environment.

Sources of the investigation consulted by Europa Press have indicated that the detainees have no police record and are all over 50 years of age, the youngest of them having been born in 1969. The investigators are now analyzing their links to independence groups, specifically their possible relationship with the CDRs.

Specifically, the agents surprised them on Saturday in a wooded area of ​​the Solsonés region of ilerdense at the moment in which they were preparing to activate a device that would spill hundreds of liters of liquid. The device was placed in a high area, in an access to a tunnel.

The aforementioned sources of the investigation have underlined the dangerousness of the action they wanted to undertake, especially when the cyclists competing in the Tour of Spain pass by in this 2023 edition. For access, the Police had to activate their specialists from the GOES and the Tedax.

The device consisted of two drums, with a capacity of 200 liters each, as well as an activation device with a solenoid valve and a timer. The mechanism was hidden among the vegetation, including the hose that was going to pour the liquid and that extended to the aforementioned road, making it difficult to detect.

The localized liquid, similar to motor oil, is pending analysis by Forensic Science specialists to determine its final composition.

The agents have verified that those arrested adopted numerous security measures to avoid their detection and surveillance. At the time of their arrest, none of them had a mobile phone and they had used secondary paths "of complex passability" to get to the point where they had installed the mechanism, according to the Police.

The investigation has been carried out by agents of the General Information Commissioner and the Provincial Information Brigade of Barcelona, ​​under the direction of the Court of First Instance and Instruction of Solsona (Lleida). In addition, specialists from the General Police Station for Scientific Police and the Higher Police Headquarters of Catalonia have participated in the final operation.

The president and the general secretary of ERC, Oriol Junqueras and Marta Rovira, requested the release of the four detainees in the Solsonès region (Lleida), criticizing the Police for acting "against fundamental freedoms and human rights".

The police action also prompted the immediate reaction of the president and the general secretary of Junts, Laura Borràs and Jordi Turull, who called on social networks for the release of those arrested in what they described as "preventive detentions typical of authoritarian and outdated regimes."