Joint operation of the Tax Agency, National Police, Mossos d'Esquadra and Europol

• They were involved in the illicit trade in military weapons and had participated in trade negotiations for other goods intended for other criminal purposes in conflict zones.
• Two searches have been carried out in which numerous computer media and abundant documentation of their activity have been seized.
• The investigation has been coordinated by the Special Prosecutor's Office against Corruption and Organized Crime

April 27, 2022.- The Customs Surveillance Service of the Tax Agency, together with the National Police, Mossos d'Esquadra, and Europol, have arrested two people in Barcelona and in the town of El Masnou for their alleged participation in the crimes of money laundering and membership in a criminal organization. Those arrested, who operated from Barcelona, belonged to a transnational criminal group.

The investigation has been coordinated by the Special Prosecutor's Office against Corruption and Organized Crime under the supervision of Central Investigation Court No. 2 of the National Court. The development of this research required the creation of a multidisciplinary working group that includes experts in the fields of economics, illicit arms trafficking, technology, trade and international maritime transport; a fact that highlights the enormous complexity and difficulty of the investigation.

The operation is a continuation of a previous intervention that led, on November 11, 2020, to the arrest of seven people in the provinces of Barcelona, Valencia and Alicante for their alleged involvement in the crimes of money laundering, membership in a criminal organization and smuggling of defense and dual-use material.

During that police operation, seven raids were carried out, seizing important financial documents, computer equipment and cash. In addition, the judicial authority ordered precautionary measures to seize 18 properties and block more than 50 financial products. In this first phase, the organisation's great economic capacity in the national territory was determined, identifying money laundering operations that exceeded ten million euros.

Since then, investigators have been busy analyzing the evidence seized in the first phase of the investigation. As a result of this analysis, evidence was found relating to the alleged involvement in those criminal acts of two new subjects, the financial director and the commercial director of the business network, arrested in this second phase by order of the Special Prosecutor's Office against Corruption and Organized Crime.

Both were part of the organised criminal group under investigation, were involved in the illicit trade in military weapons that evaded customs controls, and in money laundering in Spain resulting from these criminal activities. In addition, they had participated in commercial negotiations for other goods, such as fertilisers, that could be used by third parties for other criminal purposes in conflict zones.

International trade in arms, explosives and defence material

The criminal organization - of a transnational nature - was made up of individuals of different nationalities, some of them settled in Spain. This structure concealed, under the cover of a legitimate commercial activity, an international trade business in arms, explosives and defence and dual-use material that provided them with significant economic benefits that they laundered in Spain using companies and bank accounts abroad as instruments.

The study of the economic capacity that the organization had in the national territory, together with arduous field work by researchers, has allowed the identification of the members of the network that operated from Spain, demonstrating a prolonged activity over time, with a division of functions and tasks among them. The organization used cargo ships based in tax havens to market the sensitive goods that were the subject of the investigation.

Due to the international connections of this criminal organisation and the operations followed by it, the investigation has been supported by Europol specialists, specifically members of this agency's Specialised Group on Arms and Explosives, to provide technical support and to reveal any possible international links that may exist.