Dismantled a criminal organization dedicated to the distribution of cocaine in the Canary Islands using the “African route”


Dismantled a criminal organization dedicated to the distribution of cocaine in the Canary Islands using the “African route”

Joint operation of the Civil Guard, DEA of the United States, DIRAN of the National Police of Colombia and EUROPOL

11 people have been arrested in different municipalities of the Canary archipelago, as well as one of the leaders of the organization based in Cali (Colombia), whose extradition to our country is pending

Assets valued at more than 2 million euros have been seized, including property, housing and vehicles, most of them put in the name of “frontmen”

Important information has been obtained on the well-known “African route” of cocaine, confirming the storage of drug items from South America in countries of the West African coast, prior to the introduction in our country

The Civil Guard, with the support of EUROPOL and in collaboration with the US Agency for Drug Control (DEA) and the Anti-Narcotics Directorate (DIRAN) of the National Police of Colombia, has carried out the so-called operation GUAYOTA, in which It has been possible to dismantle a criminal organization dedicated to drug trafficking and money laundering of the benefits obtained by this type of activities.

The operation began two years ago, when through the channels of international police collaboration in which the Civil Guard operates, there was knowledge of the possible existence of a criminal organization based on the Island of Tenerife, which would be reporting large amounts of cash to prominent drug cartels in Colombia and Peru.

Joint investigation

Analyzed this information by the Group of Money Laundering of the Central Operating Unit (UCO) and the Team Against Organized Crime (ECO) of the Canary Islands, and before the high number of possible members of the aforementioned organization, as well as its scope With international action, a joint police investigation team was formed between the Spanish, Colombian and US authorities.
This police coordination and collaboration has been key to identifying the majority of people linked to this organization, which in addition to the aforementioned criminal activities, have shown the introduction of continuous cocaine items from South America to Spain, mainly by sea and always destined to the Canary Islands.
All this criminal operation was originally supervised by a Colombian citizen residing in Cali (Colombia), who brokered between the suppliers of the narcotic substance in the South American country and the recipients of it in our country. These, once held by the "merchandise", gave him exit in smaller games hidden in motorhomes through numerous trips between the different islands of the Canary Islands.
All these transfers in caravans between islands were carried out taking advantage of the legal coverage provided by a corporate structure controlled by the organization, consisting of companies for the purchase and sale of vehicles, mechanical workshops and caravan storage depots, being seized by of the researchers of 60 kilos of cocaine in one of those routes.

The African route

As a novel fact, it should be noted that one of the branches of the investigation, centered on one of the members of this criminal group of Ghanaian origin, has allowed investigators to gather and corroborate information about what is known as the “African route” of the Cocaine, the same consisting of a transit route used by South American drug trafficking organizations, through countries located on the west coast of the African continent, where the narcotic substance would be stored until its subsequent shipment to Spanish coasts.
The operation has culminated in the arrest of 11 people of Spanish nationality in different municipalities of Tenerife, as well as the Colombian subject, who is currently in the process of extradition to be made available to the Spanish judicial authorities. Likewise, 7 domiciliary registrations were carried out simultaneously in Spain and Colombia, coordinating the information obtained from them in real time with a Europol Mobile Office moving to the Canary Islands.
In the same way, it has been possible to identify and seize a patrimony valued at more than two million euros, among effects, homes and vehicles, often titled by interposed persons, also known as “frontmen”.
The operation has been carried out by the UCO Money Laundering Group and the Organized Crime Team (ECO) of the Canary Islands, together with the support of the Investigation Unit against Money Laundering of the Directorate of Antinarcotics (DIRAN ) of the National Police of Colombia, Reserve and Security Group Nº8, Cinological Group of Tenerife and Fiscal Service of the Port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, all under the tutelage of the Court of Instruction No. 4 of San Cristóbal de la Laguna (Tenerife).
For more information, you can contact the Press Office of the Central Operating Unit of the Civil Guard at 91.503.13.27.

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