Three people were arrested and cash, jewellery, 22 properties, 43 financial products, 6 vehicles and 4 horses were seized.

 In June, the Tax Agency dismantled a money laundering scheme in Murcia involving money from the US illicit drug market. The money to be laundered, 85 million dollars, was invested in financial and property transactions, especially in properties in Murcia, Granada and Malaga.

The operation, called 'Atalaya', began in March 2009 when officials from the Tax Agency detected anomalous financial and real estate transactions carried out by Spaniards and British citizens in Murcia, Granada and Malaga.

During the operation it was found that the capital that financed these operations arrived in Murcia from the United States and from different tax havens through bank transfers made by those involved in drug trafficking, by their relatives or by front men, justifying these remittances as investments by non-residents or loans from non-residents to residents. In reality, it was the profit obtained by a criminal organization from the illegal sale of hydrocodone, an opium derivative, in the United States, through the Internet and in different locations. In total, they sold more than 50 million pills from 2003 to 2007 using falsified medical prescriptions, for a profit of $85 million.

These funds were used in Spain to capitalize asset-backed companies and to make very important real estate investments, carrying out different sales of the same asset between individuals and companies in the organization to distance the assets from their illegal origin and to make investigations more difficult. These funds were also used to finance the high standard of living of the traffickers and their accomplices, front men, advisors and lawyers.

During the operation, various house searches were carried out in Murcia and Mazarrón, seizing documentation and equipment, 9,000 euros in cash, jewellery and watches, 6 vehicles and 4 horses. Three people have also been arrested: the main front man for the organization, the lawyer and advisor of the organization and the main person involved in drug sales in the United States and against whom there was an international arrest warrant. All those arrested and the seized goods were placed at the disposal of the Investigative Court number 4 of Murcia.

The Tax Agency has adopted precautionary measures against 22 luxury properties and 43 bank accounts, for an amount exceeding 12 million euros.

The operation is still ongoing and new arrests and the adoption of new precautionary measures are not ruled out in the coming days.