Joint operation between the Tax Agency and Mossos d'Esquadra

• During the course of the investigation, 1,146 kilos of hashish were seized.
• Police investigations have confirmed the activity of the organisation, which transported hashish in vans and trucks from its distribution centre in Tarragona.
• The criminal organization laundered the money they obtained from drug trafficking
• The operation resulted in nine arrests, including the two leaders of the group. Three people have been sent to prison

March 7, 2023.- Customs Surveillance officials of the Tax Agency, together with the Generalitat-Mossos d'Esquadra Police of the Criminal Investigation Division (DIC), have dismantled a criminal organization dedicated to hashish trafficking and have arrested nine people. This group operated from Morocco with the aim of transporting hashish by land to France and countries in central Europe and had its distribution centre in the municipality of Cunit (Taragona). 

The investigation began after the Deltebre Local Police attempted to stop an all-terrain vehicle in the Riumar area (Tarragona) on January 20, 2022 while they were carrying out a police check. Upon noticing the police presence, the vehicle acted evasively and fled. Shortly afterwards he was intercepted near the town of Deltebre. The agents searched the SUV and found 21 bales of hashish inside, weighing a total of 784 kilograms. The sole occupant of the vehicle was arrested for an alleged crime against public health. He had no police record. 

This arrest triggered a police investigation involving Customs Surveillance officers from the Tax Agency and the DIC from the Central Organized Crime Area and the Criminal Investigation Area of Terres de l'Ebre, to determine the origin of the seized drugs and the activity of the criminal organization responsible for their transport. 

The investigation has revealed the activity of a criminal organisation dedicated to hashish trafficking with its operations centre in Morocco and infrastructure in Spain. This group was dedicated to trafficking hashish from the African country, entering from southern Spain by sea to France and central Europe in a van or truck. As for Catalonia, the group had the town of Cunit as its distribution centre: Sometimes it was the town where people changed vehicles to continue their route to France.

The organization had a structure led by two people, who managed a network of land transport by van and truck with several drivers traveling alone. Another part of its members was in charge of laundering drug money. 

During the course of the investigation, on January 29, a truck was located in Manresa carrying 360 kilos of hashish hidden in the ground, operated by this criminal organization. Investigators arrested the driver, who had a criminal record, for drug trafficking and ordered him to be sent to prison.

Two days later, once the investigators had been able to prove the criminal activity of the organisation and had identified its members, a joint operation was carried out by both bodies with eleven entries and searches in the Tarragona towns of Cunit, Segur de Calafell, Amposta, Masdenverge and Castelló. This police operation ended with the arrest of nine people, in addition to the two drivers previously intercepted during transport. 

As a result of these raids and searches, officers were able to seize 152,000 euros in cash; 1.7 kilos of hashish and six vehicles, including cars, vans and minivans, some of them high-end.

The seizure of the money shows that the organization handled large amounts of cash and, in order to launder the proceeds from their illegal activities, some of those under investigation were registered with a company that paid them a salary without actually being employees of the company. The income thus laundered passed into the financial system as legally obtained resources. 

Once at the disposal of the Investigating Court 3 of Tortosa, which is investigating the case, the judge ordered three of the detainees to be sent to prison while the rest were released on bail.

The investigation is still ongoing and further arrests are not ruled out.