Paula picks Dorronsoro phone with voice cracking nerves. At this time (mid-morning on Thursday) 300 Civil Guard officers comb the village plot Olalde hunting for explosives. The woman, alone in the kitchen of the house, the same phrase repeated like a litany.
- do not know why you ask me about explosives. If you have found here only fertilizer for the soil ...
- Guards are making war. But here we have only found soil fertilizer.
Actually, the kids were not only clueless to her mother for years, also managed to elude the most astute experts on terrorism. Almost a decade ago specialists ETA for the first time detected Erreka command (in Basque, stream). However, the identity of the terrorists remained an enigma. Nobody could put a face to their elusive members.
On Tuesday, when the Guardia Civil raided the house of Guipuzcoa ("a real pig sty), the agents understood why. In addition to the arsenal, the brothers had built a parallel life to protect it from the guards. One produced cheese Idiazábal "in the village, the other worked in a factory and raised lamb. And in his spare time, participating in competitions "Trontz, a Basque sport that involves sawing logs at full speed.
Yes, the brothers spent their free time in his spare time to his true mission: that ETA commands always have their bombs about . At least, Aitor.
Back to the village, now is the father, Justo Esnaola, 74, who grasps the handset. And the mere mention of ETA unleashes his anger. With a very thick Basque accent, repeats the familiar excuse: that their children will have caught only a few bags of a powerful fertilizer, ammonium nitrate. nothing.
- We use it for a lifetime. When we reap, we nitrates to make the grass grow faster. If that is a crime, can arrest the owners of all the villages of Euskal Herria. Let's see if we have to go to headquarters to ask permission to pay .. .
In something is right: the presence of fertilizer in a rural holding would not necessarily arouse the suspicions of the Guardia Civil. However, the father obviously some details.
First, the amount of nitrate intervened (over a ton) seems excessive for the needs of a simple family farmhouse. Second, that the Esnaola were known for their inclinations Batasuna. And, above all, agents encountered not only nitrate, but also with the ingredients (aluminum powder, nitromethane ...) that make this fertilizer in the explosive favored by ETA addition to the mixing machines. Not to mention the guns, ammunition and the latest copy of Zutabe, the newsletter of the band.
- That does not speak to me, that I know nothing - ditch the father.
" So we would not need to walk forward and back for that bitch border (between Spain and France)," he wrote in 2004 the then head of ETA, Mikel Albizu, Mikel Antza.
Apparently Txeroki plan went ahead. The European deposit, located in Órbidos (Portugal), fell in February 2010 with 1,500 kilos of explosives. And the Basque dismantled this week, was launched by Aitor Esnaola, 40, along with his buddy Andoni Goikoetxea, who remains on the run.
They were the stockholders: the Gordian knot of logistics unit in Spain, which then distributed the material between the commands. There are more questions about the role of Igor Esnaola, 36. According to Interior, was not a member of Erreka command, but would "in all cases informed" about the adventures of his brother. On the afternoon of Friday, was put released after spending three days in jail.
The dome of the band spared no effort to avoid detection Erreka command. Apparently, they were limited to receiving requests for logistical apparatus, prepare and deposit them in their mailboxes: hideouts dug into the mountain. Thus, the command never came into contact with the owners of houses. Did not even know the exact identity of their suppliers. So, could not betray them if the security forces arrested them. The armor seemed insurmountable. Except for his enigmatic
rides to the mountain, the Esnaola led a dull life, as stipulated in the proper legal fees. If anything, they were known Legorreta for his love of Basque rural sports. His specialties were the lawn, which involves cutting grass with a scythe, and Trontz, which are cut thick logs in the shortest time possible. And do not give them evil: September 28, 2008, the pair won the championship Trontz Basque. That day, local newspapers portrayed them smiling with his trophy and a black beret.
Their success attracted the attention of Eroki Foundation, funded by the Diputación de Guipúzcoa, they recruited to their cause. Thus, in 2007, participated as trontzalaris in a project for "integrated" person through sporting values and fair play.
Provincial politicians that deserve the award for "clarity of night" by subsidizing a foundation that is not entirely for nothing, apparently. Coincidentally, the council is in the hands of the PNV and EA.
addition to sports, work was the other cover of Esnaola. Aitor spent all day in the village-pump, where he lived with his parents since childhood. They had set up a dairy in the appellation of origin Idiazábal after asking a mortgage of 220,000 euros in 2009. The alleged ETA sells its products through network-Gazta Artzai, consists of 116 Basque shepherds, and even advertised on the Internet, where he published his number mobile. Igor
, meanwhile, lived in the center of Legorreta with his wife and children. By day he worked at the controls of a machine finish AMPO, a manufacturer of valves in Idiazábal (Guipúzcoa). And in the evenings, suckling lambs raised in the village Olalde.
breeders Their activities were the perfect cover to build fertilizer without arousing suspicion. This is evidenced by the testimony of a friend of Aitor, who says:
- last week bought 1,000 kilos in Alsasua, but you also could buy that stuff if you want .
"Yeah, but records have also found detonators, aluminum powder and various weapons ...
- If you are found guns, I also I have two. And Igor is clay pigeon shooting champion ... But do you really have found detonators?
Gradually, the friend realizes that his friend might have hidden trontzalari years membership of ETA. "Aitor I knew I had been on the lists of EH ..." He admits. " And it was always very critical of the high-speed train ...."
Why is it that all they produce urticaria nationalists believe that XX infrastructure such as motorways and high speed trains?
In recent years, Aitor had become one of the leaders of the opposition to Basque AVE, one of the favorite causes of the nationalist left.
The other known connection to the brothers with Batasuna was their presence on the lists of EH in 1999. Igor was number nine in the nationalist coalition in Legorreta and Aitor, alternate Gaztelu (Guipúzcoa). At that time, few neighbors suspected that his activism was so extreme as to take up arms. But the truth is that while the poll showed, Aitor was captured by the military wing of the movement. Take nearly a decade to be arrested.
The first time that the Civil Guard detected the mysterious Erreka command was in September 2002 when he appeared on the roles of ETA José Antonio Olarra Guridi. Thereafter, it became a command guadianesco: the trail emerged from time to time (in the notes Susper, those of Txeroki ...), but always vanished before officers could behead.
- RK, RK ... Erre-ka! The command Erreka !
This investigation started a year that culminated Tuesday in the assault on the village of Esnaola. Agents are expected "something big", but not that juicy booty rescued from the "filthy" stays in this building of 800 m². In total, nearly 1,600 kilos of material, including ammonium nitrate fertilizer compounds to transform explosives.
The operation also fell Echeberría Lander, former parliamentary HB, accused of recruiting Aitor Esnaola and liaise between the command and the band. Agents also searched for the other cell member: Andoni Goikoetxea Gabirondo also a sports fan Basque (Euskadi champion of lawn in 2006). The fugitive and was convicted of assaulting his own mother, an independent councilor in the municipal full Gaztelu, and coerce a lawyer for the PNV in the same locality with Aitor Esnaola.
While moving the probe, Santos and Paula remain locked in their village to await news. On Thursday, when Aitor returned home to help the record, the parent could only chat for a few seconds with him. " were two words I said he was fine and you're "complains Fair. then quiet for a second and explodes:
- know what makes me angry? That now I have to buy fertilizer for this season. ... Fuck
"Cashero" to die: the money first and then everything else. racanería speak of the Scots as exemplars of "Hang on", but there is nothing in the world mean that a "Cashero" Basque.
Tellagorri
(With information from Gonzalo Suarez)
Esnaola pump
farmhouse
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