Joint operation between 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 an appearance of legality were managed.
• Investigators estimate that the organisation would have made 1,100,000 euros in profits from the sale of the seized buds and plants on the illicit market in Catalonia
• The investigation has concluded with 14 arrests and the seizure 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 the Mossos d'Esquadra de la Dique and the Figueres Investigation Unit, have arrested 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 9 November, 15 raids and searches were carried out in the towns of Figueres, Sant Pere Pescador, Vilacolum, Vilamacolum, l'Escala, Castelló d'Empúries and Girona, resulting in the dismantling of 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 in cash.

Investigators estimate that the organisation would have made 1,100,000 euros in profits from the illegal market in Catalonia, through the sale of the buds and plants seized in this operation.

A 'narco-robbery' initiates the investigation

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

Inside the ship, the researchers built greenhouses with materials containing thermal and light insulators, which provided, on the one hand, a controlled environment to ensure the greatest productivity of the plantations, and on the other, to prevent excessive temperatures or luminescence from alerting the location of the plantation. At the same time, they had circular water pipes that allowed for greater efficiency in the irrigation system.

Following this incident, a plantation with a total of 3,500 plants located in one of the warehouses was dismantled. In the context of the exploitation, two marijuana plants were also seized in Empuriabrava at the end of August.

An organization that trafficked and laundered profits

As a result of this action, investigators determined that the criminal organisation was engaged in the cultivation and export of marijuana to Europe. To obtain the lease of the industrial warehouses and the homes where they produced the drugs, they falsified the documentation so as not to arouse suspicion among neighbors and the police. On the other hand, it allowed them not to give out the personal data of any of the organization's leaders.

Investigators identified several people who were part of the criminal network and who played different roles: from the gardeners at the bottom, to those in charge of managing the plantations, including those with the contacts to get 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 their closest relatives), acting as intermediaries pretending to be solvent businessmen to obtain the rental of 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 value 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 noted that fraudulently connecting to electricity, in addition to constituting a criminal act of usurpation in accordance with Article 255 of the Penal Code, is also a dangerous and harmful act as it puts the integrity of people and also real estate at risk. Any unauthorized manipulation carried out by an unauthorized person may cause electrocutions, fires and explosions, causing personal and material damage.