Joint operation of the Tax Agency and the National Police

• In two operations, carried out in parallel and which represent a severe blow to the most powerful distribution networks in Europe, a total of 20 people who were part of two organizations of Balkan origin have been arrested.

• In the operation carried out in Vigo, 7,500 kilos of cocaine were seized that were hidden between frozen tuna loins, making it the largest seizure carried out in Galicia.

• To ship cocaine from Latin America to Galicia, they had a complex business network with which they intended to cover up their illicit activity through a voluminous flow of containers.

• During the operation carried out in Valencia, 3,400 kilos of cocaine were seized hidden in secret double bottoms of maritime containers that they pretended to abandon in the Valencian port.

December 12, 2023.- The Tax Agency and the National Police, within the framework of joint actions, have seized 11 tons of cocaine from two criminal organizations prepared for distribution in Europe. A total of 20 people who were part of two organizations of Balkan origin have been arrested. In the operation carried out in Vigo, 7,500 kilos of cocaine were seized that were hidden between frozen tuna loins, making it the largest seizure of this drug carried out in Galicia. During the operation carried out in Valencia, 3,400 kilos of cocaine were seized that were in secret double bottoms of maritime containers that they pretended to abandon in the Valencian port.

The investigations carried out by the Tax Agency and the National Police, which have had the collaboration of other international organizations, began in parallel, detecting a complex business network dedicated to the shipment of maritime containers from Latin America to different ports on the Iberian Peninsula.

Operation 'Moño/Tonara', the largest cocaine seizure in history carried out in Galicia

The agents' investigations made it possible to identify a business network created by the criminal organization to allegedly send large consignments of cocaine from South America to A Coruña, headquarters of the company used for the illicit importation. This company was dedicated to the international wholesale trade of frozen fish and seafood, but also to the purchase and sale of rural and urban properties and buildings and constructions in general, sharing its headquarters with other companies in the family and commercial network established for this purpose.

The responsible businessman, of A Coruña origin, intended to cover up his illicit activity in a voluminous flow of containers by sea, for which he used various companies in origin and always destined for the Iberian Peninsula. Investigators monitored the company's activity for months, detecting similar shipments that had no other objective than to demonstrate an alleged legal activity that would cover up, at the appropriate time, the transportation of the cocaine now seized.

Although several containers from this company were previously inspected in port facilities during the year 2023, the criminal organization's confidence in its method of transportation and concealment caused them to contaminate one of these containers with an amount of drugs never seen before. Galician lands and one of the most important in the history of Spanish and European drug trafficking.

Control over suspicious shipments and the support of the Campo de Gibraltar Special Anti-Drug Prosecutor's Office made it possible to request the opening of investigation proceedings in order to determine the end-use of the drugs. In this way, it was possible to verify that the organization moved the containers to the port of Algeciras to later send them to the port of Vigo, a place where two of them could be detected, one being the one that transported the entire drug inside, at which time that the arrest of all the personnel who were in the ship where the cocaine was being unloaded was carried out.

During the operation, 7,500 kilos of cocaine were seized that were hidden in a shipment of frozen tuna loins, highlighting that the drug was marked with four different logos with which they intended to identify the different European criminal organizations that were to receive the cache.

Operation 'Asador/Fulgor', blow to Valencia's cocaine logistics and distribution networks

Through cooperation between prosecutors (Valencia Special Anti-Drug Prosecutor's Office), an investigation was initiated into the contamination of a maritime cargo container that allegedly transported drugs in its structure, for which a double bottom was created inside. This container was part of a batch of four, which arrived at the port of Valencia at the beginning of November, and has been controlled since then in the Port of Valencia thanks to the police investigation.

For almost 30 days the containers were not moved from the port of Valencia and, after that period, it was thought that they had been abandoned, although it was part of the strategy of the criminal organization that was behind them, since, At the end of November, they suddenly changed the company receiving the merchandise. This new company requested the delivery of the four containers at the end of November, its administrator being a person known to the investigators, since curiously days before he had been arrested in the framework of another anti-drug operation, being charged with the crimes of drug trafficking and belonging to criminal organization.

Far from frustrating the operation, and making it clear that this company was a fraudulent structure created expressly to simulate international trade operations in which to camouflage cocaine shipments, the investigation continued its course.

Finally, on November 29, the first of the containers in the batch left the port of Valencia and was moved to a vacant lot near Valencia. It remained parked in said place all night, forcing constant surveillance over it. The next day the remaining containers were dispatched, forcing the researchers to simultaneously track the three containers, until they all coincided in an industrial estate in the Valencian town of Xirivella.

The first container that was released the night before from the port was also transferred to Xirivella early in the morning, remaining in the area until they managed to contact the final recipients of the merchandise, who were hidden and vigilant in a nearby restaurant. then proceeding to park the truck and the load in a warehouse close to it.

While all this was happening, the investigators confirmed how a van occupied by a single man was circling the polygon in clear counter-surveillance functions. Shortly after, the team in charge of following the second container indicated its arrival in the same area, finding the same man who managed the parking of the first container, coordinating the second upon its arrival at the ship.

At that moment, the members of the organization made no move to start unloading the containers, avoiding approaching them in case they brought any type of police follow-up. At the same time, the remaining members of the criminal organization, while traveling in three vehicles circulating through the industrial estate, parked briefly at different points without losing sight of the ship and even transporting other members of the organization. Upon the arrival of the third container, it was confirmed how it was parked outside the ship, at which time it was detected that several men had accessed the interior, while the others were leaving in stages and on foot.

Subsequently, several of those investigated, after a reasonable time, met in the restaurant to head towards the ship, at which time it was decided to intervene simultaneously both in the place where the containers were located and in the restaurant where they were gathered. those responsible for the organization and on the two vehicles in charge of monitoring the surroundings, one of them trying to escape at high speed.

To carry out the operation, the presence of the Special Operations Group (GOES) was necessary and when the ship was assaulted, it was detected how one of the containers had been practically emptied of narcotic substance, finding the cocaine stored in sports bags deposited at the bottom of the warehouse, next to a side door where they had a van parked, ready to load and leave. The double bottom of the second container had already been partially freed but unloading had not yet begun. Once the area was secured, the presence of firefighters was requested to access the double bottom of this second container and the other two containers in the lot were thoroughly checked, confirming that they did not carry a narcotic substance.