Joint operation of the Tax Agency and Mossos d'Esquadra

• The organization had a structure to launder money from drug trafficking through an agency from which, allegedly, the acquisition of homes and premises and the opening of businesses with the appearance of legality were managed.
• The researchers estimate the profit that the organization would have obtained in the illicit market in Catalonia with the sale of the intervened buds and plants at 1,100,000 euros.
• The investigation has concluded with 14 detainees and the intervention of 14 kilos of buds, 5,000 marijuana plants and two firearms with live ammunition.
• On November 9, 15 entries and searches were carried out in the municipalities of Figueres, Sant Pere Pescador, Vilacolum, Vilamacolum, l'Escala, Castelló d'Empúries and Girona

November 22, 2023.- Officials from the Customs Surveillance Service of the Tax Agency, together with agents from Mossos d'Esquadra de la Dique and the Figueres Investigation Unit, have arrested to 14 people (nine men and five women) between 23 and 74 years old who were part of a criminal organization that produced and trafficked marijuana with its epicenter in Alt Empordà.

On November 9, within the framework of the operation, 15 entries and searches were carried out in the municipalities of Figueres, Sant Pere Pescador, Vilacolum, Vilamacolum, l'Escala, Castelló d'Empúries and Girona, in which five indoor marijuana plantations with 5,000 plants, 14 kilos of dried marijuana buds suitable for sale, two real firearms and ammunition, an air rifle, five vehicles and 57,000 euros in cash.

The researchers estimate at 1,100,000 euros the profit that the organization would have obtained in the illicit market in Catalonia, with the sale of the buds and plants intervened in this exploitation.

A 'narco assault' begins the investigation

At the end of November 2022, the Mossos d'Esquadra in Girona became aware of a robbery inside two industrial warehouses in Ampurdán (Vilamalla), where there were two indoor marijuana plantations with a very sophisticated and specific level of installation for this illegal activity.

Inside the warehouse, those investigated built greenhouses with materials that contained thermal and light insulators, which allowed, on the one hand, to have a controlled environment to guarantee the greatest productivity of the plantations, and on the other, to prevent excesses. Temperature or luminescence could alert you to the location of the plantation. At the same time, they had circular water conduits that allowed greater efficiency in the irrigation system.

As a result of this incident, a plantation located in one of the warehouses with a total of 3,500 plants was dismantled. As part of the exploitation, at the end of August two seizures of marijuana plants were also made in Empuriabrava.

An organization that trafficked and laundered profits

As a result of the action, investigators considered that the criminal organization was dedicated to the cultivation and export of marijuana to Europe. To obtain the rental of the industrial warehouses and homes where they produced drugs, they falsified the documentation so as not to raise suspicions among the neighbors and the police forces. On the other hand, it allowed them not to give the personal data of any of the organization's leaders.

The investigators identified several people who were part of the criminal network and who played different roles: from the gardeners who are at the bottom, to those in charge of managing the plantations, to those who had the contacts to send the drugs abroad.

On the other hand, several people were also identified who invested the money obtained by accumulating assets through the purchase of houses and apartments, opening businesses (companies in the name of closest relatives), acting as intermediaries who pretended to be solvent businessmen to obtain the renting warehouses and houses, or laundering the organization's profits through false invoicing.

The risk associated with electricity fraud

The energy recovered in the framework of this investigation amounts to 1,639,934 KWh and the total power of the network that has been disconnected is 746.84 KW. The economic valuation of the defrauded energy is estimated at 428,714 euros. This energy (1,639,934 KWh) is equivalent to the annual consumption of more than 450 homes (calculating an average consumption of 3,500 KWh per home per year).

It should be remembered that the fact of fraudulently connecting to the light, in addition to constituting a criminal action of usurpation in accordance with article 255 of the Penal Code, is also a dangerous and harmful action by putting the integrity of people and also the property at risk. property. Any non-approved manipulation carried out by an unauthorized person can cause electrocutions, fires and explosions, causing personal and material damage.