The chief prosecutor of Region Murcia, José Luis Díaz Manzanera, called on Friday, while presenting the Memoria Fiscal 2025 for a special security plan for the Region of Murcia. The approach should be modelled on the one Ministry of the Interior for the Campo de Gibraltar established in the special programme . According to the Public Prosecutor’s Office , the request is prompted by an apparent shift in criminal activity, including drug trafficking, organised people smuggling and human trafficking, towards the region’s coast.
Díaz Manzanera drew on cases and police findings compiled in the Memoria Fiscal 2025. These indicate that the networks involved are increasingly using sea-based logistics and switching to new routes when existing hotspots come under tighter surveillance. The chief prosecutor said he would seek additional staff resources for the prosecution service to address the documented rise in complex investigations.
The proposed plan takes inspiration from key elements of the programme for the Campo de Gibraltar: coordinated reinforcement of police forces, targeted investigative and financial investigation capacity, swift judicial coordination and central government coordination. In recent years, the Interior Ministry has repeatedly extended this special programme and provided it with additional funding. The prosecution service in the Region of Murcia is now pressing for comparable measures adapted to regional circumstances.
In practice, a special programme would increase the police presence along the coast, strengthen specialist investigative units and bring operational priorities together. It would also require budgetary and staffing decisions, the implementation of which takes time. The assessment presented distinguishes between the findings made by the prosecution service for 2025 and proposed measures clearly identified as requests. Díaz Manzanera made no predictions about the effectiveness or timescale of a possible plan.
The proposal has once again brought the question of a consistent national approach to criminal networks’ shifting activities into focus. In Murcia, pooling resources and responsibilities could in particular accelerate efforts to combat maritime drug routes, dismantle logistical bases and confiscate illicit proceeds. Political coordination between the Interior Ministry, regional government, security forces and the justice system is considered crucial. The chief prosecutor’s current request thus gives the security policy debate in the Region of Murcia a concrete impetus.
Editor: Mira Cadena (Article created with AI assistance).