A joint operation by the Tax Agency and the Guardia Civil

• The drug traffickers hid the drugs inside bundles of wool, among live animals and in drawers with false bottoms under scrap parts.

• Ten people have been arrested and 1,147 kilos of hashish, 755 kilos of marijuana, two pistols, nine vehicles and almost 36,000 euros in cash, among other items, have been seized.

• An accident involving a drug trafficking plane in Morocco has brought the criminal group's international connections and targets into sharp focus

June 28, 2023.- The Customs Surveillance Service of the Tax Agency and the Civil Guard, in collaboration with Europol and the Regional Center for Analysis and Intelligence against Drug Trafficking (CRAIN), have exploited the 'Oveja'/'Musketeer' operation in which they have dismantled a criminal group based in Guadix (Granada) dedicated to the distribution to Central European countries of narcotic substances hidden among bundles of wool, live animals or scrap parts.

Ten people have been arrested on suspicion of belonging to a criminal organisation, crimes against public health due to drug trafficking, money laundering, illegal possession of weapons and electricity fraud.

In addition, 1,147 kilos of hashish, 755 kilos of marijuana and two pistols were seized. 13 house searches have been carried out in the Granada towns of Guadix, Benalúa de Guadix, Alquife, Atarfe, Belicena, Pinos Puente and Calicasas, and in the Cadiz towns of Algodonales and Bornos. As a result of these actions, almost 36,000 euros in cash, 13 mobile phones, precision scales, vacuum packing machines and documentation have been seized.

Seven bank accounts have also been blocked as a precautionary measure and seven properties and 21 vehicles have been subject to preventive seizure.

Almost a year of operation

The operation began after French customs agents inspected a truck from Spain last July 2022 and found a shipment of marijuana and hashish hidden among the bundles of wool it was transporting.

The French agents contacted their counterparts in Spain to inform them of the arrest. The Customs Surveillance Service of the Tax Agency and the Civil Guard in Granada agreed to investigate a suspect, a resident of Guadix.

As the operation was taking its first steps, a small plane involved in the international transport of narcotics crashed near Larache (Morocco), where the pilot escaped unharmed and fled with the drugs. Investigators have determined that the pilot was picked up by a member of the now-dismantled organization.

As the investigation progressed, it was discovered that the organization used trucks from companies linked to the transport of live animals for drug trafficking. They hid the drugs in false bottoms, sometimes camouflaged among sheep and other times inside bundles of wool.

After several arrests, the pressure on the organization caused the criminals to radically change their concealment methods and began to send the drugs in large wooden boxes with false bottoms under scrap parts.

However, investigators managed to seize two other shipments of hashish and marijuana. In one of these operations, a 7.65 mm caliber pistol was seized.

Part of the seized drugs were destined for Poland and the ringleaders were based in Guadix.

After identifying all the members of the criminal network and once the investigation phase was completed, authorization was requested from the competent judge to carry out 13 house searches in the provinces of Granada and Cádiz. As a result, ten people were arrested, almost 36,000 euros were seized and bank accounts and property worth more than one million euros were frozen.

The Customs Surveillance Operational Unit of the Tax Agency in Granada, agents from the Organic Unit of Judicial Police of the Civil Guard of Granada and Cádiz, as well as Europol and the CRAIN of the Civil Guard, participated in this operation. During the exploitation phase, agents from the Reserve and Security Group of the Civil Guard of Seville, from the Citizen Security Unit of Granada, Jaén and Cádiz, as well as Citizen Security patrols from the Company of Guadix and Armilla also participated.