Joint operation between the Tax Agency and the Civil Guard

• The organization obtained economic benefits of more than one and a half million euros by transporting 5,000 tons of hazardous waste to the African continent.

• Operation 'Fortuna' has resulted in the arrest of 43 members of the criminal organization

January 3, 2023 .- Customs Surveillance of the Tax Agency in Las Palmas and the Seprona of the Civil Guard Command of Las Palmas, within the framework of the joint operation 'Fortuna', have dismantled a criminal organization dedicated to the international trafficking of hazardous waste to African countries from Gran Canaria.

During the months of November and early December, 43 members of a criminal organisation were investigated for alleged crimes against the environment, document forgery and membership of a criminal organisation that in the last two years had managed to transport more than 5,000 tonnes of hazardous waste from electrical equipment from the island of Gran Canaria to Africa, obtaining economic benefits exceeding one and a half million euros.

At the start of the investigation, five clandestine facilities dedicated to the illegal management of waste were detected throughout the island of Gran Canaria, in which hazardous waste from electrical equipment (WEEE) was collected, stored, handled and loaded to be transported to African countries, mainly Mauritania, Nigeria, Ghana and Senegal, from the port of La Luz in the capital of Gran Canaria.

For this reason, Las Palmas researchers carried out inspections and searches that led to the seizure and immobilization at source of more than 300 tons of this waste and 14 containers that were ready for transport.

Modus operandi

The criminal organisation removed waste from legal management channels, for which they relied on a supposed management company that falsified documents regarding its origin and management. These wastes, which are classified as hazardous, must be delivered to an authorized manager at the end of their useful life for proper decontamination, since this type of waste contains components that contain mercury, lead, cadmium, arsenic, phosphorus and gases that deplete the ozone layer and affect global warming.

In the clandestine facilities that have since been closed, waste was sold to those responsible for transporting it, which was then sent to African countries, passing it off as second-hand goods.

During the course of the investigation, it was discovered that the shipment of a total of 331 containers, illegally sent to the African continent over the past two years, had been managed and organised by the same people who provided the false documentation necessary to pass off the waste as items that had undergone a decontamination and reuse process.

Similarly, the origin of the waste was falsified, omitting the fact that it came from clandestine facilities, for which the waste identification documents (DI) were falsified, attributing the origin to technical services and recycling plants. Within the criminal organization there were waste companies and technical services that certified the merchandise. The proceedings, together with the detainees, are at the disposal of the Provincial Prosecutor's Office Coordinating the Environment of Las Palmas.