Joint operation with the Tax Agency, National Police and the Guardia Civil

• 16 people arrested in the provinces of Jaén, Granada and Málaga, who have already been placed in preventive detention by court order
• More than 750 kilos of hashish, 77 kilos of marijuana and 250 grams of cocaine have been seized, as well as 125,000 euros in cash and assets and current accounts worth 1.5 million euros have been blocked.
• The dismantled group had the capacity to supply important consignments of narcotic substances and transport them hidden in large trucks to countries in central Europe.
• Those investigated used companies such as insurance brokerages and driverless vehicle rental establishments to launder the important and substantial benefits of their criminal activity.

March 29, 2023.- Customs Surveillance Officials from the Tax Agency together with agents from the Civil Guard and the National Police have dismantled a criminal organization based in the province of Jaén dedicated to the international production and distribution of narcotic substances, which has allowed the arrest of 16 people, the seizure of some 750 kilos of hashish and the blocking of assets and bank accounts worth more than one and a half million euros. The 16 people arrested so far in the 'Andura-Plazoleta' operation have been placed in preventive detention by order of the head of the Court of First Instance and Instruction number 3 of Andújar, who has directed the investigation. They are considered alleged perpetrators of crimes against public health, money laundering, criminal organization, electricity fraud and illicit possession of weapons.

Start of investigations

The investigations began in September 2022, when investigators obtained evidence of the criminal activity carried out by the organization, as well as its money laundering operations. The agents found out that at the head of the criminal network would be a group of Spanish citizens settled in the province of Jaén who, allegedly, would be dedicated to the acquisition, preparation and distribution of significant quantities of narcotic substances destined for different European countries. To do this, they used large trucks, with which they carried out legal transportation abroad. The vehicles were fully designed and prepared to hide the drugs in camouflaged apartments, known as 'caletas'.

To supply the different consignments of narcotics that they later transported, the leaders of the group made numerous and frequent trips to different parts of Andalusia to contact suppliers of marijuana and hashish, in addition to having their own marijuana production.

Whitewashing structures

The considered leaders of the organization (a resident of Mengíbar, but resident on the Costa del Sol, and a resident of Andújar) enjoyed a high standard of living, which did not correspond to their legal economic income. However, to give the appearance of legality to these large amounts, they used different types of companies, with the aim of laundering the profits, such as insurance brokerages, car sales establishments or driverless vehicle rental companies.

The complex money laundering structures designed by the detainees, as well as the actions to locate and immobilize financial assets, have been detected and dismantled thanks to the economic-financial study carried out by the Customs Surveillance Service of the Tax Agency.

During the course of the investigation, three interceptions of drug shipments destined for central European countries have been made, all three in just one month, between the end of January and the end of February.

Detail of the seizures

In the first, registered in the province of Alicante, Civil Guard agents seized 66 kilos of vacuum-packaged marijuana, in packages of approximately one kilo. The merchandise was hidden in a double bottom made in a semi-trailer. This intervention was carried out at the facilities of a company where the truck was preparing a legal load bound for Germany.

The second interception occurred in the French town of Le Boulou, by the French authorities. On that occasion, the truck was carrying 370 kilos of hashish hidden in a false bottom and camouflaged with legal merchandise. Their end-use was the area of the French Alps.

Finally, members of the National Police intervened at the Irún tollbooth with another 329 kilos of hashish, hidden in a 'cove' in the semi-trailer of a truck that was heading to France.

The three transporters were arrested successively. From there and amid suspicions that they were being investigated, the organization stopped producing marijuana and also ceased its activity to collect hashish from different suppliers.

The logistics of the organization

As a common denominator of all the shipments, the agents verified that all the trucks loaded the drugs at a farm located in the Granada town of Chimeneas, and that it was owned by a neighbor from Jun, also in Granada, and who is one of The detainees. The investigations carried out allowed the location of the different infrastructures in which marijuana was grown and drug shipments were processed.

Both the warehouses and the trucks used for transportation were paid for by the leaders of the organization, either because they were the owners or because they paid the rent. Indoor plantations managed by other members of the organization, subordinate to the supposed leaders, have also been dismantled in towns such as Linares or Mengíbar.

Final exploitation phase

Once the three trucks were intercepted, the investigators directed the investigations to the final phase of exploitation, which took place last week, with 31 simultaneous searches carried out in private homes, companies, warehouses and farms in Andújar, Linares, Mengíbar , Chimeneas, Jun, Alhaurín de la Torre and Fuengirola. Altogether, the 'Andura-Plazoleta' operation has allowed the seizure of some 750 kilos of hashish, 77 kilograms of marijuana buds, one kilogram of methamphetamine and cutting substance. Likewise, tools and materials have been located for labeling, packaging, weighing and marketing narcotic substances.

The agents have also seized two short weapons and three long weapons (one of them stolen), and bulletproof vests; 125,775 euros in cash, luxury objects resulting from criminal activity, as well as high-end vehicles and heavy trucks used for transportation. In addition, assets worth 1.5 million euros have been blocked in real estate and current accounts. The investigation is still open and it is not ruled out that there will be other arrests related to money laundering activities.