The embassy of Armenia in Spain expresses its concern with respect to the term “Armenian mafia,” which the Spanish Ministry of the Interior and the media have used in their reports about the more than 100 people who were detained last week in Spain, as a result of operations by the law enforcement agencies, and among whom—according to available information—there are persons of Armenian descent and Armenian citizens too. 

The aforementioned is noted in a statement which the embassy has issued.

“The embassy expresses its concern in connection with such formulations and emphases; they cause significant damage to the reputation of several tens of thousands of law-abiding and exemplary Armenians living in Spain,” the statement also reads. “(...) not all of those who were detained in [connection with] the case are Armenians, their being members of one criminal organization has not been proven yet, and there is no court verdict that has entered into force against them.

“(...) at the same time, we consider [placing] the emphasis on ethnic origin to be unproductive in the fight against crime gangs.”