The two men arrested are:
Xabier Goyenechea Iragorri, born in San Sebastián, aged 35.
Joseba Iñaki Reta de Frutos, born in Elorrio (Biscay), aged 56.
The two men arrested played a highly important role within the terrorist group ETA as they were in charge of the techno-logistical department of the terrorist gang.
On 20 July 2014, the websites of the "Gara" and Naiz.info" newspapers published a communiqué from ETA in which the terrorist group announced it was carrying out an internal restructuring process which provided for the decommissioning of its "logistics-military" framework, the creation of a "techno-logistical" structure, responsible for sealing its arms caches, and strengthening its "political system", without this leading to the abolishment of its structures necessary for internal operations.
Up until the time of his arrest, Xabier Goyenechea Iragorri was ultimately responsible for this system, with support in terms of management and coordination from the second individual arrested during the operation.
The two men are members of ETA and have extensive experience in activities supporting the terrorist group. Xabier Goyenechea was one of the organisers and catalysts behind the so-called 'street fighting' in Rentería (Guipuzcoa) and had taken part in various acts of violence and sabotage. For this reason, and in order to escape a police operation, he went into hiding in April 2008.
Xabier Goyenechea was also involved in the theft of six top of the range cars by numerous members of ETA in March 2010 from the "Auto Contac" dealership in the French town of Dammarie Les-Lyes (60 kilometres from Paris), which ended in the killing of French police officer Jean-Serge Nérin - the first member of the French police force to be killed by ETA.
Joseba Iñaki Reta joined the terrorist group ETA in 1978 and, as leader of the MUGARRA 'legal unit' [a unit comprising members who do not have police records], took part in various terrorist actions over the course of 1981. Since then, he has been sentenced for his collaboration with and membership of an armed or terrorist gang, most recently in September 2008, when he went into hiding.
The ongoing nature of the terrorist activity by Joseba Iñaki Reta has been demonstrated by the discovery of several of his fingerprints among the abundant ETA material seized by the Spanish Guardia Civil in January 2010 in the town of Bermillo de Sayago (Zamora), which two members of the terrorist gang were trying to relocate to Óbidos (Portugal), a town where ETA was installing an explosive device storage facility and manufacturing workshop. This facility was dismantled by the Portuguese Guardia Nacional Republicana (GNR) in February 2010.
Furthermore, Xabier Goyenechea and Joseba Iñaki Reta were the leaders of the ERREKA 'legal unit' dismantled by the Spanish Guardia Civil in Guipuzcoa in 2011, leading to the largest seizure of explosive material from ETA in Spain. The two men arrested are the subject of various arrest warrants issued by several Central Courts of Instruction of the Spanish National High Court.
Two French citizens were also arrested as part of this operation (J.F.M. and M.T.L.) for providing accommodation to the two terrorists in a property owned by them in Ossés.
This joint operation between the Spanish Guardia Civil and the French DGSI represents the first police action against one of the youngest structures of the terrorist group ETA - the techno-logistical department - and the arrest of its leaders - two of the most wanted members of ETA - is especially significant.
This outstanding police action carried out within the framework of international police cooperation represents a hard blow to ETA, and will make controlling and managing the material it still has extremely difficult. Operation "Tonel-Tonneau" forms part of the investigations being carried out by the Spanish Guardia Civil into the clandestine structures of the terrorist group ETA and represents another important step towards their definitive dismantling.
The operation remains active and further arrests have not been ruled out.
Foto:archivo