• The investigation by the Customs Surveillance Service in Galicia has allowed the accreditation of around twenty trips with heated vehicles to different parts of the Peninsula.

• The main investigator was in prison, who had remained missing for more than a month, as well as the driver of a vehicle carrying 50 kilos of cocaine.

• In the searches carried out, trailers, fuel bottles, and even a large tractor to transport boats, as well as cash, electronic equipment and documentation were seized.

July 16, 2024.- The Customs Surveillance Service of the Tax Agency in Galicia has deactivated an organization based in Vilanova de Arousa dedicated to the distribution of cocaine to various points in Spain and Portugal through vehicles with double bottoms. As part of the operation, called 'Patinete', the main investigator, who had remained missing for more than a month, as well as the driver of a vehicle carrying 50 kilos of cocaine.

The investigations began more than a year ago when the Customs Surveillance Service in Vigo detected that the main person under investigation, already known for his links to drug trafficking by sea, makes continuous trips to various points on the Iberian Peninsula, which makes suspect the investigators that it could once again be linked to the distribution of narcotic substances that reach our coasts by sea.

During this time, Customs Surveillance investigators were able to determine that the cocaine delivery operation was carried out using two vehicles, one that acted as a 'shuttle' vehicle and the other as a cargo vehicle.

If the occupants of the 'shuttle' vehicle detected police controls, or that they could be subject to monitoring, they notified the vehicle carrying the load to deviate from the route and resume it at any other point, avoiding police control.

In addition, the members of the organization easily changed the vehicle in which they made their trips and also changed mobile phones, in addition to using encrypted applications, in order to make any investigation or investigation work difficult. follow-up.

As a result of the investigation, it has been proven that the criminal organization had made nearly twenty trips of these characteristics to various parts of Spain, such as Asturias, Andalusia and Galicia, as well as to Portugal.

Operational on the AP-9

After extensive field work, SVA investigators deployed, at the beginning of last June, an operation that allowed them to intercept a vehicle belonging to the organization carrying more than 50 kilos on the AP-9 highway, in the province of Pontevedra. of cocaine hidden in two double bottoms.

The vehicle had a sophisticated concealment system under the two front seats, which were raised entirely with part of the vehicle body. To discover the coves, it was necessary to use the Vigo Customs container scanner.

At that moment, the driver of the vehicle transporting the narcotic substance was arrested, while the main investigator fled on a motorcycle at the moment he was going to be detained by investigators and has remained missing for more. of a month until he has appeared in court. Both are already in provisional prison for the alleged crimes of drug trafficking and criminal organization.

To the above is added a third, investigated but not detained, in the Lebrija area, who is attributed with a crime of smuggling of prohibited goods typified in Royal Decree 16/2018.

Entries and records

Along with the operation on the AP-9, five entries and searches were carried out in homes and warehouses, three in the Vilanova de Arousa area (Pontevedra) and two in the towns of Lebrija and El Cuervo (Seville). One of the Vilanova warehouses had strong security anchors, so to access it, during the early hours of Tuesday, June 4, the collaboration of the Vilagarcía de Arousa Fire Department was necessary.

In addition to the narcotic substance, among the effects seized and placed at the disposal of the court are two trailers, around thirty fuel bottles, and even a large tractor of those usually used to transport boats, as well as electronic equipment, cash and various documentation.

The detection of the tractor, the trailers and the fuel bottles lead the investigators to understand that at least part of the organization would also be dedicated to the rescue of narcotics introduced by sea in both Galicia and Andalusia.

The investigations, carried out by the Customs Surveillance Operational Unit of Vigo, with the collaboration of the Seville Operational Unit for the records, remain open and focused mainly on an analysis of the seized documentation, so new arrests are not ruled out.