Joint operation of the Tax Agency and the National Police within the framework of EMPACT

• The sailboat carrying the drug was intercepted as it began its voyage from Cadiz to Argentina with 56 kilos of ecstasy, a quantity that would have allowed the production of between 800,000 and 1,200,000 tablets.
• Five people have been arrested, three in Marbella and two in Tarifa, as they set off towards the Canary Islands, where they intended to stock up on supplies to later sail to Argentina with the narcotic.
• This operation brings to light a new drug route, with the origin of the narcotic being European territory and the destination being Latin American countries, opening the doors to criminal organizations to a new market with millions of potential consumers.

December 10, 2022 .- Customs Surveillance of the Tax Agency, in a joint operation with the National Police within the framework of the 'Empact' project, has intercepted for the first time a maritime shipment of MDMA from Europe bound for South America. The sailboat carrying the drug was intercepted by the patrol boat 'Fénix V' of the Customs Surveillance Service when it began its voyage from Cadiz to Argentina with 56 kilos of ecstasy, a quantity that would have allowed the production of between 800,000 and 1,200,000 tablets.

Five people have been arrested, three in Marbella and two in Tarifa, as they set off towards the Canary Islands, where they intended to stock up on supplies in order to later sail to Argentina with the narcotic.

The operation began at the end of last October, when it became known that a large quantity of synthetic drugs were being offered to various criminal organisations on the Costa del Sol with the intention of distributing them during the Christmas period.

Later, they found out that this narcotic was going to be sent by sea from Europe to South America. This information was confirmed by the Argentine National Gendarmerie, which provided information about the arrival in Spain, from Brazil, of an Argentine citizen to take charge of a sailboat that would be used for this international drug transport. The Portuguese Judicial Police, Europol and the National Crime Agency of the United Kingdom also collaborated within the framework of the 'Empact' project.

They made their movements coincide with Spain's matches in Qatar

The agents observed that the suspect, with the support of four other Argentine nationals, took charge of a sailboat already linked to a cocaine transport in 2020 that resulted in 20 arrests and the seizure of almost 1,500 kilos of cocaine, and that had been abandoned in Spain.

The detainees renovated both the exterior and the interior of the sailboat amidst strict security measures to ensure that it would not be linked to the previous police operation. They therefore did not maintain contact with third parties, never left the sailboat unoccupied and loaded material and tools at unsociable hours, coordinating some of their most suspicious movements with the schedules of the Spanish national team's matches at the World Cup in Qatar.

The four suspects refurbished the interior of the boat, while a fifth Argentine, based in Marbella, maintained constant contact with them, and it could be observed how he provided tools and aluminium and wooden planks to the occupants of the sailboat. At the end of November, the detainees renamed the sailboat and two of the suspects set off, having to take refuge in the port of Tarifa after suffering a breakdown. Once these tasks were completed, the crew began sailing towards the Canary Islands, where they planned to stock up on supplies in order to later sail to Argentina.

Between 800,000 and 1,200,000 MDMA pills

When the boat left Tarifa, the patrol boat 'Fénix V' of the Customs Surveillance Service of the Tax Agency intercepted the sailboat and, after several hours of searching, the Police and SVA investigators, and the members of the GOIT, detected a secret compartment, created with aluminium sheets, which was located under a kitchen cabinet.

Once they accessed the compartment, the agents located 28 packages containing 56 kilos of MDMA, perfectly sealed and covered with diesel to mask their smell. The agents then proceeded to arrest the three people who had remained in Marbella and who had collaborated in the preparation of the boat.

According to the information handled by the investigators, the drug was destined for Argentina, where the suspects intended to transform the MDMA crystal into pills for distribution, as this substance is much rarer in South America than in Europe. The 56 kilos intercepted could turn into a very significant quantity of MDMA pills, between 800,000 and 1,200,000, depending on the purity sought by the distributors.

New drug route

This operation brings to light a new drug route, with the origin of the narcotic being European territory and the destination being Latin American countries, opening the doors to a new market with millions of potential consumers for the organizations. The extremely high value of synthetic drugs on the American continent would be another reason that would explain the opening of this new route for transporting narcotics.