• During the course of the investigation, nine arrests have been made and 40 vehicles have been recovered.

• The network infrastructure, which included vacant lots and industrial warehouses to store cars at different points in Catalonia, Huesca and Almería, has been dismantled.

• The organization loaded the containers on weekends to try to avoid inspections before sending them to different ports on the Spanish coast, with the port of Banjul (Republic of Gambia) as the end-use.

October 22, 2025.- Between August and October 2025, Customs Surveillance officers from the Tax Agency in Catalonia and Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan Police) from the Criminal Investigation Division (DIC) of the Western and Girona Police Regions dismantled a criminal group dedicated to smuggling stolen vehicles, primarily to Gambia. The investigation, carried out in different phases, has led to the arrest of nine men between the ages of 19 and 53.

Initial context: a recurring theft of the same vehicle model

Since 2023, officers have been aware of an increase in thefts of the same type and model of vehicle: an SUV from an Asian manufacturer. During 2024, this trend saw a progressive increase, with 137 reports of theft across Catalonia and 38 recovered vehicles. In fact, in the first six months of this year, the trend continued to rise, reaching 118 thefts in Catalonia and 31 vehicle recoveries.

The vast majority of the vehicles were not found abandoned, but ended up in wastelands or industrial warehouses inside shipping containers, ready to be shipped by sea, usually to African countries.

The investigation took a turn on July 22 of this year, when the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police) located a dozen stolen vehicles in an industrial warehouse in Girona that were about to be introduced into the black market. Officers from the Girona DIC determined that stolen vehicles were collected between one and two times a month by several people who manipulated them, and then a truck driver transported them inside iron containers hidden among scrap metal. In this context, agents identified several people and vehicles involved in the plot, as well as a container whose cargo arrived at the port of Barcelona at the end of July and crossed the continent to reach Tangier (Morocco). The end-use of the cargo was the port of Banjul (Republic of Gambia), but efforts through Interpol alerted the Moroccan police to the arrival of the container. It was then that the country's authorities checked the interior and confirmed the presence of four vehicles that were reported stolen in La Ràpita (Montsià), Roses (Alt Empordà), and France.

A very marked 'modus operandi'

Investigators determined that the suspects had a highly specialized modus operandi: They accessed the vehicles by activating a system that made the car believe it was being unlocked with its original key. Once they had it in their possession, they moved it to a plot of land outside the urban center where the group rented a space. There they controlled shipping containers in which they hid the vehicles until they were filled and their shipment to Africa was arranged.

The logistics of this activity required a highly structured organization, with outstanding leaders who held the contracts for both the container leases and the transport orders to the various destination ports. On a second level were those in charge of managing the warehouses and vacant lots where the vehicles were stored. On a third scale, the members who were preparing the loading of the containers. And at the last link in the chain, there were people who stole vehicles from public roads using electronic systems.

First phase of the operation in Castellón and Almería

In parallel with the Girona investigation, the Tax Agency's Customs Surveillance Service and the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan Police) of Lleida identified an active infrastructure dedicated to stealing vehicles for shipment to the Republic of Gambia. To do this, they modified or removed the vehicle's registration identification (chassis, license plate, or technical documentation), placed them in shipping containers mixed with generic merchandise to make them difficult to detect at customs controls, and shipped them to various points along the Spanish coast, with the port of Banjul as the end-use.

As a logistics center, the group used an industrial warehouse in the Huércal-Overa industrial estate (Almería). There, they received stolen vehicles, which they loaded into shipping containers, usually on weekends and holidays, under the mistaken belief that this would avoid inspections. Subsequently, through a freight forwarding company, they transported the containers to Castellón, from where they were finally shipped by sea to the Republic of Gambia.

On August 6, investigators discovered four containers suspected of transporting illicit goods at the transport company's headquarters. Upon inspection, they found 15 vehicles of the same make and model that were listed as stolen, with a total market value of 300,000 euros.

That same day, with the collaboration of the National Police, three people aged 32, 44, and 53 were arrested at the industrial warehouse in Almería, who were using the space as a cargo warehouse. Among his belongings, officers found transport orders with dates consistent with the investigation's findings, as well as purchase receipts for tools used for the shipment. Furthermore, one of the detainees was already listed in the Girona investigation as responsible for managing part of the fleet of stolen vehicles.

Joint research team between Girona and Lleida

The coincidence of this person led to the creation of a joint investigation team between the Tax Agency's Customs Surveillance Service and the Girona and Lleida DIC, within which Customs Surveillance carried out the location and physical inspection of suspicious containers.

Agents confirmed the network's extensive logistical capabilities by locating several members in different parts of the country. A vacant lot in Riudellots de la Selva (Girona) or a warehouse in Monzón (Huesca), for example, served as "nursery" for vehicles before they were loaded into containers and sent to the ports of Barcelona, Castellón, and Valencia, mainly.

The ability to maintain the illicit business even after the first arrests was evident: Twenty days after the operation in Castellón and Almería, investigators detected a new logistics order with data similar to that of the containers inspected on August 6 (loading point, weight, declared merchandise, etc.). During this new inspection, officers located two more vehicles that had been stolen in Balaguer and Lleida.

Second stage: Six arrested and seven vehicles recovered

The detection of containers and the discovery of stolen vehicles continued until September 18, when officers raided the industrial warehouse identified in Monzón and recovered seven stolen vehicles. That same day, six members of the group were arrested in Girona, Salt, Cassà de la Selva, and Lleida. One of them had already been arrested in Almería during the first phase of the operation.

All of them were brought before a court, along with one other person arrested on October 2 in Manresa in connection with the same incidents. They are accused of more than 40 car thefts, one count of international vehicle smuggling, and one count of belonging to a criminal organization.

The investigation is still ongoing and further arrests are not ruled out.