A joint operation by the Tax Agency, the Guardia Civil and the Stockholm Police Force (Sweden)

• The operation has been carried out in the provinces of Malaga, Cadiz, Granada and Seville, as well as in France, Belgium, Holland, Denmark, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
• 14 people have been arrested and 6 searches have been carried out in which almost 3.5 tonnes of hashish, 76 kg of marijuana and 1 kg of hashish resin, 10 vehicles, 9,600 euros in cash, computer equipment and mobile phones, as well as material for the distribution of the drug have been seized.
• The organization transported drugs from the province of Malaga to countries in the European Union using both parcel delivery companies and rented and owned vehicles where they transported the drugs hidden to their destination.

January 31, 2019 .- In a joint operation by the Tax Agency, Civil Guard, and the Stockholm Police (Sweden), they have carried out the so-called 'Cotrina' operation, in which a criminal organization dedicated to the distribution of large quantities of hashish and marijuana from the province of Malaga to different countries of the European Union (France, Belgium, Holland, Denmark, Sweden and the United Kingdom) has been dismantled.

This network has been completely dismantled in Spain, resulting in the arrest of both those responsible for the organisation and those in charge of managing the logistics, storage and distribution of the drugs, leaving four people on the run, for whom the corresponding arrest warrants have been requested. The detainees, of Spanish, Belgian, Polish, Danish and British nationality, are charged with drug trafficking, membership of a criminal organisation and money laundering.

During the different phases of the operation, 6 searches were carried out in the capital of Málaga, as well as in the Malaga towns of Mijas, Cártama, Marbella and San Pedro Alcántara, where most of the members of the organisation were based, and in which 3,470.32 kg of hashish, 76.91 kg of marijuana, 1.036 kg of hashish resin worth 9,660 euros, 10 vehicles, 22 mobile phones, various computer equipment, documentation and handwritten notes related to the criminal activity were seized.

Modus operandi  

The investigation began when a patrol from the Traffic subsector of the Málaga Command located during a routine check a truck that was carrying 56 burlap bales containing 1,680 kilograms of hashish hidden inside its load, proceeding at that moment to arrest the driver.

Following this arrest, a joint investigation was initiated by the Tax Agency and the Civil Guard, which after the steps taken focused their investigations on a criminal group based in the province of Malaga led by persons of Belgian nationality and made up of other members of various nationalities; Spanish, Polish, Danish and British.

This organisation was dedicated to supplying narcotic substances to other criminal groups of Swedish origin based in the province of Malaga, and to the transport and subsequent distribution of narcotic substances to other European countries, mainly hashish and marijuana, using rental vehicles or trucks from transport companies for shipments of large quantities.

After acquiring the narcotics, they deposited them in two houses owned by the organisation in the town of Mijas (Málaga), where, after loading them into vehicles, they began transporting them to the destination countries, this being one of the systems used.

Another system used by this criminal group to transport drugs was to send them through parcel companies hidden inside various objects (armchairs, decorative items, etc.).

The investigation was led by the 12th Court of Instruction in Malaga, and was carried out by the Customs Surveillance Department of the Tax Agency in Malaga, the Organised Crime and Anti-Drug Team (EDOA) of the UOPJ, the ODAIFI of the Port of Malaga of the Command of the Civil Guard of Malaga, and the Stockholm Police (Sweden).

Operation filming (to download the video, enter the following web address):

https://we.tl/t-LSlunuw2u0