Redaccion
Three months after the dismantling of a drug den at number 32, Imagen Street in the Entrevías neighborhood, residents claim that drug trafficking has resurfaced in the same building and has even spread to other apartments in the block. The situation has created a climate of terror among residents, who report thefts, vandalism, and the constant presence of drug addicts loitering in the stairwells.
Last March, the National and Municipal Police raided an apartment in this building after multiple neighborhood complaints. In the operation, they arrested a woman and her underage son, alleged perpetrators of the drug point of sale. However, the calm was short-lived.
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«What’s happening here is happening in many places in the neighborhood,» says a visibly outraged neighbor. Those who live in the block claim that drug trafficking has not only returned but is now operating in at least two or three different homes.
Residents, who prefer to keep their identities hidden for fear of reprisals, describe an unsustainable situation. «We have serious security problems in the building. People come in, break the portal door every week, spend the night on the stairs, hide in the corridors… They are people with dependency issues who buy drugs in two apartments in the building,» explains a neighbor.
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Those who live here claim the apartment is active again and it seems it wouldn’t be the only point of sale in this block. «You constantly encounter undesirable individuals, strange people coming up the stairs. There are families with children here. If I had kids, I wouldn’t raise them here,» confesses a resident.
According to testimonies, one of the implicated apartments is squatted, while another is managed by a real estate agency that, apparently, ignores the complaints. «The agency has been notified, but they turn a blind eye. As long as they pay the rent, they don’t take action.»
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In contrast to the neighbors’ accusations, a young man who claims to have run the drug den dismantled in March states that there is no activity anymore. However, his account reveals the harshness of the business that operated there: «We could make 700 euros a day here and we sold base. My mother bought it in bulk, and then we divided it.»
Given the seriousness of the complaints, residents hope that law enforcement will act again. In the meantime, they live in fear that the escalation of violence and insecurity will continue to grow in a neighborhood crying out for solutions.
