Spanish police on Monday said they had broken up a cell of “The Base”, a transnational neo-Nazi white supremacist group designated a terrorist organisation by the European Union, Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
The US-founded movement operates through a decentralised, international network of paramilitary cells with the aim of perpetrating attacks and preparing for a “race war”, the police said in a statement.
An investigation launched earlier this year uncovered a Spanish cell whose members were “highly radicalised” and had trained using “paramilitary techniques and equipment”, the police added.
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In recent months, the suspects had encouraged “violent acts, even stating openly that they were prepared to carry out targeted attacks for the cause”.
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The leader of the cell was in “direct contact” with the group’s founder, who one month ago called for “targeted attacks with the aim of bringing down Western democratic institutions”.
Police arrested three suspects last week, including the leader who is in custody on charges of membership of a terrorist organisation, recruitment, indoctrination and training with terrorist aims and the illegal possession of weapons.
They also seized two firearms, ammunition and neo-Nazi paraphernalia during raids in the eastern province of Castellon.
US citizen Rinaldo Nazzaro started the group in 2018 as a network for radical right nationalists readying for armed conflict and then moved to Saint Petersburg and took up Russian citizenship, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based think tank.
Last year, the European Union added “The Base” to its terrorist list, placing sanctions including a travel ban and a freeze of assets in Europe.
