Operation 'TOP'

In a joint operation of the Tax Agency and the National Police

• A drying machine, four chemical synthesis machines and 14,500 litres of chemical products were seized, which could have produced more than 1,000 kg of amphetamine and MDMA, with a value of more than €5,000,000 on the illicit market.
• In the successive phases of the operation, 16 people have been arrested and 90 kg of marijuana have been seized in France, 145 kg of marijuana and 261 kg of hashish in the United Kingdom and 199 kg of marijuana in Spain.
• The international nature of the criminal organization has required the collaboration of the NCA police agency from the United Kingdom and the French Police Nationale

October 29, 2018 .- Officials from the Tax Agency and agents from the National Police have aborted the installation of one of the largest synthetic drug laboratories in Spain. The chemicals and machinery seized – a drying machine and four chemical synthesis machines – could have been used to produce more than 1,000 kg of amphetamine and MDMA, with a value of more than 5,000,000 euros on the illicit market. In successive phases of the operation, 16 people have been arrested (two in France, seven in the United Kingdom and seven in Spain) and 90 kg of marijuana have been seized in France, 145 kg of marijuana and 261 kg of hashish in the United Kingdom and 199 kg of marijuana in Spain. The international nature of the criminal organization has required the collaboration of the NCA police agency from the United Kingdom and the French Police Nationale.

The investigation began in May 2017 when a company under investigation sold industrial machinery that could be used in the production of synthetic drugs. Once the destination of the machinery was identified, investigators confirmed the existence of an international organisation dedicated to the export of narcotic substances, specifically hashish and marijuana, and which was reportedly stocking up on machinery and chemical products to set up a laboratory for the large-scale manufacture of synthetic drugs in the province of Malaga.

European-wide operation with various executive phases

In order to dismantle this criminal network, and given its transnational nature of action, the collaboration of different European police forces with the investigative units of the National Police and Customs Surveillance was necessary.

In May of this year, the British National Crime Agency seized a container from our country in Liverpool containing 406 kilos of cannabis. During the raid, seven members of the organisation were arrested, three of whom were under investigation in Spain and who have great hierarchical weight in the criminal network.

Similarly, in France, collaboration with the Police Nationale led to the seizure in April this year of a truck carrying 1,500 kg of formic acid and formamide, chemicals of particular importance for the manufacture of synthetic narcotics. In June, another truck was found carrying 90 kg of marijuana, and two people were arrested in France.

Following the various seizures of shipments in Europe, investigators intensified their surveillance of the criminal organisation in Spain, managing to seize 67 kilos of marijuana hidden in a truck carrying vacuum cleaners in La Junquera (Gerona).

One of the largest cannabis seizures in recent years

In parallel, in the province of Malaga, the agents detected two industrial warehouses and a garage in which 132 kilos of marijuana buds, 6,150 litres of chemical products used to make synthetic drugs (formic acid, formamide, caustic soda, hydrochloric acid and methylene chloride), a large drying machine, four chemical synthesis machines, various laboratory equipment and documentation containing the formulation and steps required to manufacture certain drugs were stored. In addition, 7,000 litres of hydrogen chloride were seized at Barcelona's El Prat airport and were destined for the laboratory.

The operation, carried out in several phases and on an international scale, has enabled the dismantling of what would have been the largest synthetic drug laboratory in our country, with the production of more than 1,000 kg of amphetamine and MDMA, which would have reached a value of more than 5,000,000 euros on the illicit market. In total, 16 people have been arrested in France (two), the United Kingdom (seven) and Spain (seven).