A clandestine laboratory with the capacity to produce more than 150 kilos of "speed" per month has been dismantled in La Rioja
Operation of the Tax Agency, Civil Guard and National Police
- Another clandestine laboratory for the extraction of cocaine alkaloids and the subsequent production of cocaine has been dismantled in Madrid
- More than 104 kilos of speed, 2.4 kilos of ketamine and 1.3 kilos of cocaine have been seized
- The narcotic substances, once adulterated, would have become 450,000 doses, valued on the illicit market at almost five million euros.
February 28, 2023.- The Customs Surveillance Service of the Tax Agency, the Civil Guard and the National Police, in the operation 'Kilos-Adeva-Disney' coordinated by the Intelligence Center against Terrorism and Organized Crime - CITCO -, have dismantled a criminal group dedicated to the production and distribution in the north of Spain of significant quantities of narcotic substances, mainly 'speed' and cocaine, for which four people have been arrested - three Colombians and one Spaniard -, aged between 23 and 45, and residents of La Rioja and Madrid.
During the operations, two laboratories dedicated to the intensive production of amphetamine sulphate and the extraction of coca alkaloid to obtain cocaine were dismantled; They were operating at full capacity and it is estimated that they had a production capacity of around 150 kilos of speed per month. Both laboratories had all the necessary equipment to process the precursor substances, obtain the 'speed' and extract the cocaine.
During the exploitation phase of the operation, a total of seven searches were carried out in the towns of Autol, Agoncillo, Arrubal and Lardero (La Rioja) and Leganés (Madrid), in which 104,794 grams of amphetamine sulphate 'Speed', 2,456 grams of ketamine and 1,328 grams of cocaine, 290 litres of precursors, 15 kilos of cutting substances, 7,000 euros in cash, 21,000 euros in 'cryptocurrencies' and prohibited weapons were seized. The seized high-purity narcotic substances, once adulterated, would have become 448,687 doses, valued on the illicit market at 4,973,413 euros.
The investigation began in August 2022, after the existence of a criminal group operating in La Rioja and Madrid was discovered, dedicated to the production and distribution of significant quantities of narcotic substances. Its members were being investigated by the Tax Agency's Customs Surveillance Service, the National Police and the Civil Guard, which led to the establishment of a joint operation at the Center for Intelligence against Terrorism and Organized Crime -CITCO-.
From that moment on, the 'Kilos-Disney-Adeva' operation began to take shape, which was extremely complex due to the security measures adopted by those under investigation, the large infrastructure of homes to be monitored and the numerous vehicles they used to move around Madrid, La Rioja and neighbouring provinces.
With the information gathered during the months of investigation, the agents were able to define in detail the entire infrastructure of the organization, its criminal network, the roles played by each of its members, its dangerousness, its bases of operations, the clandestine laboratories and the method they used to finally distribute the substances.
The exhaustive work of analysis and operational activity made it possible to determine that the criminal group was going to introduce a significant shipment of speed and cocaine into the market. For this reason, the holder of the Court of First Instance and Instruction number 3 of Logroño was asked, with the consent of the Public Prosecutor's Office, to enter and register seven properties.
After being authorized and carried out, the narcotic substances, cash, cryptocurrencies and prohibited weapons were seized, as well as the chemical compounds essential for the production of amphetamine sulphate and the extraction of cocaine alkaloid: hydrochloric acid, ethyl acetanol, alcohol, isopranol, sulfuric acid, ammonia, caustic soda, sodium carbonate, manganese sulfate and acetic acid, along with a vacuum sealer, gas masks, etc.
It is significant that in one of the searches in La Rioja, instruments, chemical substances and precursors were found for the imminent establishment of a laboratory for extracting coca alkaloids to obtain cocaine.
The suspects arrested as alleged perpetrators of the crimes of belonging to a criminal group and against public health, after being heard in statements, were placed at the disposal of the aforementioned court in Logroño, which ordered the imprisonment of three of the four detainees.
In addition to the team made up of Customs Surveillance officials from the Tax Agency -La Rioja and Madrid-, the Central Narcotics Brigade -UDYCO CENTRAL- and the EDOA of the Judicial Police of the Civil Guard in La Rioja, numerous uniformed officers from both the Civil Guard and the National Police have collaborated -intervention or canine units with drug-detecting dogs-.
Operation filming (to download the video, enter the following web address):