National Police agents in Spain arrested an 18-year-old with ties to jihadist terrorism in the town of Tarifa last Monday, Spanish police reported.
The suspect, a young Spanish convert to Islam, had adopted the extremist dogmas of ISIS. According to their investigation, police discovered that the youth had been radicalized via the internet to an alarming degree, enough to officially swear an oath of allegiance to ISIS.
He was arrested for the crimes of membership in a terrorist group, glorification of terrorism, self-training, self-indoctrination, and indoctrination of others.
The FBI collaborated in the investigation via digital tracking and data sharing.
Investigators noted the suspect’s growing fixation on mass-casualty terrorist attacks carried out throughout Europe, with him showing a “special admiration” for the 2016 Nice truck attack in France, which killed 84 people.
According to police files, the suspect voiced an explicit and “profound hatred” toward Spain and its citizens, expressing a desire to perpetrate a similar vehicle-ramming or other mass-casualty attack.
Police raided his residence last Monday morning, where they seized evidence, including a large amount of jihadist propaganda material as well as multiple electronic devices, in order to analyze his digital footprint and trace his network and connections.
The case is being handled by the Central Court of Instruction of the Audiencia Nacional, Spain’s highest court for terrorism offenses.
The detainee was brought before the court on Wednesday and was ordered to be imprisoned by a judge.
