Dismantled an international criminal organization dedicated to drug trafficking and money laundering
The dismantled organization was very professional and had infrastructure in several countries in Europe and South America. Among the 39 detainees, there are former Colombian cartel leaders
Within the framework of the investigation, five cocaine processing laboratories and a money-hiding systems manufacturing workshop have been dismantled
The agents have intervened almost 1,000 kilos of cocaine, 45,000 pills (MDMA), 1,000 kilos of precursors, 5 liters of liquid ecstasy, 3,800,000 euros, a firearm, various vehicles with "double bottoms" and two cutting machines money, among other effects
The last phase of the investigation has allowed the total disarticulation of the organization with the arrest of seven people in Valencia and three in Madrid
Agents of the Civil Guard, the National Police and the Tax Agency have broken up a criminal organization dedicated to drug trafficking and money laundering. There are 39 people arrested and five cocaine processing laboratories and a money-hiding systems manufacturing workshop have been dismantled. Likewise, the agents have intervened almost 1,000 kilos of cocaine, 45,000 pills (MDMA), 1,000 kilos of precursors, 5 liters of liquid ecstasy and 3,800,000 euros, a firearm, various vehicles with “double bottoms” and two machines of cutting money, among other effects.
The dismantled organization had a very high professionalism and had infrastructure in several countries in Europe and South America. Some of its members, especially violent, were former leaders of Colombian cartels. The last phase of the investigation, recently developed, has allowed the total disarticulation of the organization with the arrest of seven people in Valencia and three in Madrid. The authorities of Portugal, Ecuador and Colombia have also collaborated.
The investigation began in 2017, in Valencia, when the National Police became aware of the existence of a complex criminal organization dedicated to drug trafficking. The first inquiries focused on the Valencian municipalities of La Eliana and Gandía, where some of those investigated resided, although the connections they maintained in Madrid, Alicante, and other countries such as the Netherlands and Colombia were immediately observed.
High professionalization of the organization covered in a complex business gear
A few months after the start of the investigation, the agents demonstrated the connection of one of the investigators with two contaminated containers of cocaine that had reached a fruit warehouse in Madrid. This resulted in an operation in which they apprehended 233 kilos of cocaine hidden inside pineapples. From that moment, and after several police efforts, the investigators confirmed the existence of a criminal organization protected by a complex business gear.
They also observed the existence of a branch, within the organization, dedicated to transporting significant amounts of money to Colombia and Mexico. The leaders of the latter, located in the Alicante municipality of Catral, used internal border flights to introduce money in Spain – from the Netherlands and Belgium – and then transported it to cocaine producing countries. The modus operandi revealed the origin of this money, which came from the economic benefits generated by imports of narcotic substances.
The police discovered about a dozen companies – many of them covered – dedicated to the import / export in which some of the respondents participated, in one way or another. They also located several homes, located in different towns of Valencia and Madrid, which were used as cocaine stores and laboratories. Also, the agents detected that there were members of the organization that were in charge of drug transport and that, for them, they used a large number of constantly changing vehicles.
Cocaine trafficking as the main activity of the organization
With the advance of the investigation, the agents perceived that the disjointed organization handled all the cocaine introduction systems by sea; They detected hidden hiding places between the merchandise (specifically, between pineapples), dissolved in the merchandise (asphalt waterproofing) and by means of the “blind hook” procedure. Over the course of a year and a half, the National Police made numerous arrests and apprehensions of cocaine, dealing severe blows to the criminal organization.
At the beginning of 2018, the agents dismantled a cocaine processing laboratory in the Valencian town of Ribarroja and arrested four individuals, including one of the main investigators. This operation involved 12 kilos of cocaine, more than 700 kilos of precursors, as well as all the necessary elements for the processing of the narcotic substance (press, logos, drying elements, weighing, packaging, etc). A few months later, in an inspection of containers carrying pineapples, 67 kilos of cocaine were involved in the merchandise and arrested several people, among which was another of those investigated.
Arrests in Valencia and Madrid
Earlier this year, investigators from the Civil Guard and the Tax Agency arrested another member of the organization – along with four other individuals – when they were preparing to rescue 475 kilos of cocaine in the Port of Valencia.
The National Police also learned that 186 kilos of cocaine hidden in asphalt waterproofing had been intervened in Bogotá (Colombia). Curiously, this drug was aimed at a company whose owners were two of the main investigators, who kept various companies within the sophisticated network of the organization.
Only one month later another operation was carried out that ended with the arrest of three other members in Valencia. The agents were aware that the detainees had a home there that served as a drug store, as well as several parking spaces where they carried out the cocaine transactions. Also involved nine kilos of cocaine, numerous precursors and several vehicles – some of them equipped with sophisticated concealment systems.
As part of the investigation, the agents arrested three other people in Madrid. There they made two records – one of them in the municipality of Getafe – whose result was the dismantling of a cocaine processing laboratory and the apprehension of 10 kilos of cocaine, 14 kilos of methamphetamine, 5 liters of liquid ecstasy (GHB), numerous precursors, molds, a hydraulic press, a motor vehicle and 7,000 euros in cash. This operation was essential for the progress of the investigation since it allowed to detect the modus operandi used by the organization to transfer the drug from Amsterdam (Holland) to Spain.
Money laundering and money transfer to Colombia and Mexico
Parallel to drug trafficking, investigators detected a branch of the criminal organization dedicated to money laundering. This branch allegedly transferred money from the benefits generated by drug trafficking to Colombia and Mexico, where the top officials traveled regularly. The agents observed that one of them made various deliveries of money to a woman who performed the functions of capturing and accompanying “mails”. This allowed the identification of the principal investigators as well as the detection of various addresses in Madrid, Valencia and Alicante, being in the latter province where they centralized their activities. Also, in Alicante they located a workshop, equipped with modern machinery, where they manufactured the concealment systems in which they later transferred the money.
On the other hand, the investigation revealed that the criminal network had the collaboration of various travel agencies for the transfers of its members. They deposited money in cash to pay for travel without leaving a trace of current accounts or credit cards that could identify the true holders of the respective flight tickets.
Within one year (between April 2,018 and the same month of 2,019) the agents made numerous money interventions – at airports in Valencia, Madrid, Barcelona and Alicante – to different people who assumed the post office function within the organization . The amount of money seized in this period exceeds three and a half million euros.
Once the investigators located the members of the organization responsible for the transport of money, and accredited their function within the criminal framework, they carried out an operation that ended with 11 detainees. Likewise, they made five registrations – two of them in Valencia, another two in Catral (Alicante) and one in Alcorcón (Madrid) – in which eight luxury vehicles, 40,000 euros in cash, jewelry and lots of documentation, also blocking numerous bank accounts.
Total dismantling of the organization with ten detainees and two decommissioned cocaine processing laboratories
The last phase of the investigation has made it possible to completely dismantle the criminal organization under investigation. When the agents located three houses in Madrid that the organization maintained as warehouses / laboratories and identified those responsible for their custody, they exploited the last phase of the operation. In it they have arrested ten people, seven of them in Valencia and three in Madrid, and have made a total of nine registrations (six in the province of Madrid and three in the province of Valencia). In addition, they have dismantled two cocaine processing laboratories and seized 80 grams of cocaine, a large number of precursors, hydraulic presses, molds and other effects for handling the drug. In this last phase, 15,250 euros in cash, a bill counting machine, a frequency inhibitor, various documentation, two vehicles, jewels and luxury watches have also been intervened.
39 detainees, 19 records and a ton of cocaine intervened
The investigation has lasted more than two years due to the complexity of the organizational framework of the organization and the rigorous security measures used by the arrested, who used encrypted instant messaging systems.
Finally, the total number of detainees amounts to 39 people of Colombian (31), Spanish (6), Romanian (1) and Dominican (1) nationalities. In addition, some of them had been leaders of Colombian cartels and were especially dangerous.
In addition, nine registrations have been made in the province of Valencia, eight in Madrid and two in Catral (Alicante). As a result of the records, agents have dismantled 5 cocaine processing laboratories and a workshop for manufacturing money concealment systems; 993 kilos of cocaine, 45,000 pills (MDMA), 5 liters of liquid ecstasy (GHB), 1,000 kilos of precursors, 3,800,000 euros in cash, numerous jewels, luxury watches and 13 motor vehicles have also been involved. In addition, they have apprehended two money counting machines, five hydraulic presses, a firearm, a frequency inhibitor, abundant research related documentation and 40 bank accounts have been blocked.
