A combined operation of the Tax Agency and the Guardia Civil

• Within the framework of the "Vozka" operation, six individuals have been arrested and five others have been questioned as suspects.

• It has been established that several of the boats manufactured by this organization are linked to seizures of more than 4,000 kilos of cocaine and 4,000 kilos of hashish carried out in the Strait of Gibraltar and in international waters.

• 30,000 euros in cash, eight boats, 25 large-capacity motors, nautical material, GPS radars, antennas and various documents, computers and mobile terminals seized

April 19, 2024.- The Tax Agency and the Civil Guard, in collaboration with the Judicial Police of Braga (Portugal), have dismantled a criminal organization based in Galicia and dedicated to the sale of outboard motors and the manufacture of "narco-boats" for groups operating in the Strait of Gibraltar. In the operation, called "Vozka" and whose exploitation phase has been completed in the last few hours, six individuals have been arrested and five others have been questioned.

The organisation, also dedicated to money laundering, operated between the province of Ourense and the north of Portugal, from where it supplied engines and boats to organisations in the Strait of Gibraltar area that used them for drug trafficking and the illegal transport of immigrants.

This criminal organisation used the funds obtained from money laundering from drug trafficking to manufacture high-speed boats, which were then transported to the Strait of Gibraltar. It has been established that several of the boats manufactured by this organisation are linked to seizures of more than 4,000 kilos of cocaine and 4,000 kilos of hashish carried out in the Strait of Gibraltar and in international waters by the Tax Agency, Civil Guard and National Police.

Searches and arrests

 The operation was carried out in the towns of Valença do Miño (Portugal), Ourense and Pontevedra, where six people were arrested and five charged, all as alleged perpetrators of the crimes of belonging to a criminal organisation, money laundering and drug trafficking.

During the course of the operation, seven house searches were carried out (four in Ourense, two in Pontevedra and one in Valença), where 30,000 euros in cash, eight boats, 25 large-capacity motors, nautical material, GPS radars, antennas and various documents, computers and mobile terminals related to the criminal acts were seized.

More than 100 agents from the Civil Guard and the Tax Agency, as well as the Canine Service and the Helicopter Unit of the Civil Guard of A Coruña, participated in the development of the operation. Specifically, the Customs Surveillance Operational Unit of the Tax Agency in Ourense (AEAT), the Organic Unit of Judicial Police of the Command of the Civil Guard of Ourense, the Judicial Police of Braga (Portugal), the Organic Unit of Judicial Police of the Command of the Civil Guard of Cádiz, CRAIN (Regional Center for Analysis and Intelligence against drug trafficking), and CCP (Police Cooperation Center of Algeciras) have taken part in the operation.

The Operation is led by the Investigative Court No. 2 of Ourense and by the Anti-Drug Prosecutor of the Ourense Prosecutor's Office.