Operation “Watussi”

• 58,400 methamphetamine pills, 121,600 ecstasy pills, 198 kg of marijuana, 5.7 kg of cocaine and 16.20 kilos of hashish seized
• Eleven arrested and fourteen charged. Most had criminal records and used jammers to prevent their communications from being tracked.
• They had four greenhouse-type marijuana plantations, some hidden behind false walls in apartments and premises, and a cannabis association as a cover for their consumption.
• They received cocaine from Bolivia through Brazil by boat and in turn sent designer drugs and hashish to Latin American countries hidden in merchandise exports.

August 7, 2015 .- The Tax Agency has dismantled an organization that trafficked all types of drugs from Brazil to Spain and that had its center of operations in Catalonia. The organization also owned several greenhouse-type marijuana plantations and a cannabis association for its consumption. Eleven people have been arrested and fourteen others charged.

The operation, called “Watussi”, began a year ago with investigations into a suspicious vessel that could be transporting cocaine from Brazil to Spain. This initiative involved coordination between the Brazilian Tax Agency and the Federal Police. The Portuguese Judicial Police also collaborated to control the arrival of drug trafficking vessels in Portugal.

The leader of the organization is a Spanish citizen residing in Hospitalet de Llobregat who frequently traveled to Brazil. He owned numerous assets, vehicles, boats, motorcycles, commercial premises, parking lots, etc., in the name of front men, in order to conceal the profits he received from his drug trafficking activities.

Shell companies for trafficking all types of drugs

The organization carried out its criminal activity in all branches of drug trafficking: cocaine, cannabis and designer drugs and supplied the Spanish, Portuguese and Brazilian markets.

To do this, they had created different fictitious companies, each with a purpose. Some are dedicated to renting boats in Spain and Portugal to bring cocaine from Latin America. Others, such as wholesalers of marijuana seeds and fertilizers, are able to buy these substances at a better price. They even created a cannabis association to be able to sell the substance with impunity and use it as a cover for the four greenhouse-style marijuana plantations, some hidden behind false walls in apartments and premises, which they had in different addresses in Calella, Corbera del Llobregat, Sant Antoni de Vilamajor and Hospitalet de Llobregat.

Members of the organization, most of whom had a history of violent crimes, used frequency jammers in their vehicles to make it difficult for them to be followed and for their communications to be tracked.

On May 26, 27 and 28, Customs Surveillance of the Tax Agency and the Federal Police of Brazil carried out the first operations. In Spain, ten raids and searches were carried out, leading to the seizure of various narcotic substances and the arrest of six people, including the top leaders of the organisation.

The substances seized were the following:

• 5,730 grams of cocaine.
• 58,400 methamphetamine pills in tablets.
• Four marijuana plantations in different locations with a total of 2,042 cannabis plants with an approximate net weight of 198 kilos. Some of the plantations were hidden behind false walls in apartments and premises.

Also seized were 5 vehicles, cash, jewelry, watches, computers, ammunition, precision scales, laboratory instruments, mobile phones, tracking beacons, spy cameras and various materials that the organization had in its possession.

In Brazil, in the port of Santos (Sao Paulo), 121,600 ecstasy pills and 16.20 kg of hashish were seized on 27 May, hidden in a false bottom of a metal cabinet that was part of an export of used furniture. Five people were arrested, all of them Brazilian nationals.

“Smurfing” for drug payments and money laundering

Investigations have been able to demonstrate that the dismantled organization received cocaine from Bolivia through Brazil by means of vessels, one of which has been seized in Portugal, and in turn sent designer drugs and hashish hidden in merchandise exports to that country and other Latin American countries. He also used the “smurfing” system, that is, sending small amounts of money through different people, to make payments for the substances as well as to launder the organization's profits.

In the final phase of the operation in Spain, fourteen other people have been charged with the alleged crimes of drug smuggling, money laundering and membership in a criminal organisation.

The operation was directed by the National Court.

Customs Supervision: Presentation of charges for smuggling and related offences 

Free telephone 900351378.
Email: denunciasvigilanciaaduanera@correo.aeat.es