Four arrests as Bilbao ETA cell is smashed

The Civil Guard struck ETA a fresh blow on Tuesday morning, dismantling a comando legal- a cell whose members have not served jail time- in Vizcaya. The operation resulted in the arrests of four suspects, Lorena López Díez, Iñigo Zapirain Romano, Beatriz Etxeberría Caballero and Daniel Pastor Alonso.

All of the detainees are in their thirties and investigators believe the cell is responsible for the most recent attacks in Vizcaya and the surrounding area. Although there is no definitive proof yet available, authorities believe the Vizcaya cell may have carried out ETA's last fatal attack in the Basque Country, the 2009 murder of police inspector Eduardo Puelles.

The detainees, who are being investigated in connection with an attack against a Civil Guard barracks in Burgos in 2009 and the assassination of warrant officer Luis Conde de la Cruz in Santoña in a car bomb attack in September, 2008, ETA's third operation in a bloody 24-hour period.

The cell, which may have previously operated in support of the broken up commando Vizcaya, had been operating together for some years and its components led apparently normal lives: one was a construction worker, while another worked as a bricklayer. The cell was well-organized and its materiel up-to-date and comprehensive. If instructed, it could have launched an attack at a moment's notice.

The operation involved the search of three addresses in Bilbao and one in nearby Galdakao. Officers seized 200 kilos of explosives and related materials, a Browning pistol, a Smith & Wesson and a MAT sub-machine gun.

It is thought that the origin of the operation stems from papers recovered after the arrest of former ETA military leader Mikel Kabikoitz Carrera Sarobe, alias Ata, in May 2010. The investigation is a serious blow to the credibility of ETA's recently announced ceasefire and the abertzale left political grouping's latest incarnation, Sortu, which condemned terrorism at its recent presentation as a party seeking legitimization in order to run in municipal elections in May.