From: Gibralter Chronicle (UK)
by Brian Reyes
SHARP WORK A worker securing razor wire to the reinforcement of the frontier fence following aggravated incidents in recent weeks in which officers and property faced aggression from smugglers.
The Gibraltar Government has taken physical and legislative steps to tighten security in the border area in the wake of last week’s violent clash between Customs officers and cigarette smugglers.
The border had been neglected for many years, with just a flimsy fence riddled with holes to separate Gibraltar from Spain.
At the eastern end of the runway, construction of the airport tunnel turned that area into an unlit wasteland across which smugglers could easily slip undetected.
On the Spanish side access to the fence was easy and unhindered, just short stroll from the main road to La Atunara.
For Customs officers, patrolling this zone was a difficult and challenging task.
“It was a constant cat and mouse game,” said John Rodriguez, the Collector of Customs.
“They would cut holes in the fence, we would seal them up as best we could.”
Last week two Customs officers were pelted with stone by a large group of men as they tried to carry out an arrest.
The incident prompted a major review of frontier security and in the past four days, everything has changed. Life for the smugglers has suddenly got a lot harder.
Working round the clock since last Saturday, workers have installed a dense barrier of razor wire that stretches from the sea at the eastern end of the fence all the way to the car park behind the air terminal.
They have also implemented a string of street lamps that will illuminate the fence at night and further complicate life for anyone trying to cross clandestinely.
This is not just about stemming the flow of contraband tobacco. It is also about strengthening overall security in a highly sensitive area.
Similar steps will likely be taken to install razor wire at the western end of the frontier fence, another weak point in Gibraltar’s border.
“Securing the land frontier is as important to Gibraltar as I have no doubt it is to Spain,” said Chief Minister Fabian Picardo.
“This issue affects the safety and security of law enforcement officials on both sides of the fence.”
“The sad state to which our frontier fence had been allowed to deteriorate had to be addressed as a matter of urgency.”
In parallel, the Gibraltar Government has also passed subsidiary legislation declaring large areas stretching along the border from Eastern Beach to Western Beach as “special zones”.
The move will allow Customs to apply tougher controls under the terms of the Tobacco Act.
Inside a special zone, for example, the definition of “commercial quantity” of cigarettes changes from 2,000 or more cigarettes to 600 or more, making it more restrictive for anyone carrying a large quantity of tobacco.
Crucially, it also activates clauses in the legislation that enable Customs and other law enforcement agencies to move people on if they are suspected of being involved in smuggling activities, even if they are not carrying tobacco.
Anyone who is asked to leave a ‘special zone’ and fails to do so can be arrested and fined.
The change gives law enforcement agencies greater scope to disrupt the activities of the organised gangs who ferry tobacco across the fence.
“It’s another valuable tool in our armoury,” Mr Rodriguez said.
The physical changes are the border are imposing and have not gone unnoticed on the northern side of the fence.
Yesterday, as Mr Rodriguez showed the Chronicle how the work was unfolding, a man on the Spanish side looked across, bemused.
“For God’s sake, what is this?” he shouted across in Spanish. “It looks like the Berlin wall.”
