Joint operation of the Tax Agency and Mossos d'Esquadra

• The joint investigation has been supervised by the Court of Instruction number 4 of La Bisbal d'Empordà

• For the first time, a criminal organization specialized in hashish trafficking based in the south of Spain would have coordinated with an organization rooted in Catalonia to successfully carry out drug landings on the Catalan coast.

• On June 11, an operation was deployed that has allowed the dismantling of the criminal network, formed by two organizations with a strong capacity to introduce hashish through the Catalan coast.

• The criminal network used people to guarantee security during drug landings on the beach and transfers to the 'nurseries' for storage and subsequent distribution.

• In the entire investigation, more than 18 and a half tons of hashish have been seized, valued in the illicit market at 36 million euros.

June 19, 2024.- Officials of the Customs Surveillance Service of the Tax Agency and agents of the Generalitat-Mossos d'Esquadra Police of the Criminal Investigation Division (DIC) have dismantled the main and largest criminal network that was introducing hashish into Catalonia.

During the nine months that the investigation has lasted, the joint team has arrested 40 people (26 have been imprisoned). They are charged with crimes of belonging to a criminal organization, crimes against public health in the form of drug trafficking and illicit possession of weapons. During this time, investigators have seized more than 18 and a half tons of hashish valued at 36 million euros on the illicit market, as well as five firearms.

The investigation, which has been supervised by the Investigative Court number 4 of La Bisbal d'Empordà, has made it possible to discover a criminal network with a strong capacity to introduce hashish through the Catalan coasts. The investigation began in September of last year and lasted until June 11, when the exploitation phase of the operation was carried out.

That day, a large operation was carried out with more than 200 police officers deployed and 14 entries and searches were carried out in different towns in Catalonia (Manlleu, Sant Hipòlit de Voltregà, Torelló, Roses, Puiggròs and Tàrrega), Málaga and Zaragoza. . The balance of the device was 36 detainees and 80 kilos of hashish seized.

The detainees were brought to justice on June 13 before the Investigative Court number 4 of La Bisbal. After being brought to justice, the judge ordered 22 of the detainees to be imprisoned.

Begur, the "zero point" of the investigation

On September 17 of last year, the Mossos d'Esquadra located in the Aiguafreda cove in Begur (Girona) a van stranded on the sand that contained a shipment of almost three tons of hashish, in 76 bales, valued on the market. illicit in 5.3 million euros. The perpetrators had abandoned all the drugs to avoid arrest.

As a result of this incident, and based on the first investigations, the investigators identified different people who had allegedly participated in this landing, and who were already being investigated by the Customs Surveillance Service Unit of the Tax Agency in Girona, therefore that a joint investigation team is formed.

One of the elements that characterizes drug trafficking is the need to quickly recover the economic losses that occur when drug traffickers are forced to abandon drugs, or when police forces thwart landings.

Faced with these situations, criminal organizations, such as the one investigated, increase their illicit activity to recover, increasing drug landings.

The criminal network investigated did not hesitate to modify their way of operating, as well as to vary the people with whom they worked, both in the approach by sea and by land and, in this way, they increasingly increased their operational capacity to increase their benefits. Investigators estimate that they would have landed hashish every two weeks and that each boat could reach the coast loaded with an average of three tons of hashish.

A southern organization that operates in Catalonia

The investigation has confirmed that, for the first time, a criminal organization specialized in hashish trafficking and based in the south of Spain, specifically in Malaga, had coordinated with another organization rooted in Catalonia, in Manlleu (Barcelona), to carry out successfully carried out drug landings in Catalan territory. However, both organizations also had the capacity to manage and materialize shipments independently.

The group, based mainly in Malaga, was made up of eight people, of whom five were arrested in the Andalusian city, two in Zaragoza and a last person located in Melilla was investigated. This group traveled to Catalonia to take charge of receiving drugs in Catalan coves and distributing them in the European illicit market.

The members of this group had the help and infrastructure of the group based in Manlleu. The Catalan side of the network was made up of more than 24 people, rooted mainly in the Manlleu area, in the Barcelona region of Osona.

From there, those investigated searched for and controlled the points on the coast where the landings could be carried out and notified the Andalusian side of the exact points where the drugs should be landed. They also prepared the necessary logistics to ensure the success of the shipments: They looked for the "daycare centers", changed the location of the drugs to avoid police action, rented vehicles for transportation and helped the Malaga group in part of the distribution.

Hashish landings thwarted

From the beginning of the investigation until the moment of the dismantling of the criminal network, the investigators consider that the organization would have carried out 19 hashish landings in different parts of the Catalan coast, the vast majority of them on the Costa Brava: Roses, Cadaqués, Begur, Llafranc and Tossa de Mar. And, more recently, in other points such as L'Hospitalet de l'Infant and Cabrera de Mar.

Of all these landings, investigators have been able to thwart four and have located one of the nurseries:

• On September 17 of last year, the Mossos d'Esquadra located a van stranded on the sand in the Aiguafreda cove, in the municipality of Begur, containing a shipment of 2,903 kilos of hashish.

• Already this year, on January 23, in Culip cove (Cadaqués, Girona), a landing of 100 bales of hashish weighing 3,922 kilos was intervened, after the intervention of a joint team of officials and air resources from the Customs Surveillance Service, as well as the Mossos d'Esquadra.

• On February 9, in Moià (Barcelona), investigators from Mossos d'Esquadra and Customs Surveillance seized 34 bales inside a house, weighing 1,343 kilos of hashish and 66 kilos of marijuana buds.

• On May 19, the same team, in Maçanet de la Selva (Girona) seized 38 bales, weighing 1,488 kilos.

• Finally, on June 7, in an air-naval operation by Customs Surveillance and Mossos d'Esquadra in Arenys de Mar (Barcelona), a semi-rigid boat loaded with 138 bales of hashish weighing 5,367 kilos was intercepted.

Two landings in the same night and in the same cove

On that date of June 7, within the framework of the investigation, a police device was established in Maresme to intercept a shipment of hashish by sea, with the collaboration of naval means, including the Special Operations Ship "Fulmar ", which at that time had the Customs Surveillance Service deployed on the Mediterranean coast for another operation to combat hashish trafficking.

In the area where the operations were deployed, a second semi-rigid boat was detected, unrelated to the events investigated, which tried to transfer the drugs to another organization that was waiting for them on land. The police deployment carried out, with maritime, air and land means, caused the occupants of this first boat to throw overboard 77 bales of hashish weighing approximately three tons during the escape. Moments later, a second vessel managed by the investigated criminal network was also intercepted.

The total amount of drugs seized in these operations allegedly attributable to the investigated network exceeds 18 tons of hashish, with a value in the illicit market of 36 million euros.

Use of firearms to protect drug shipments

One of the characteristics of those investigated that have alerted the police team is the amount of weapons and ammunition located in different criminal acts linked to this network. Five firearms have been seized, including two armed weapons, a 12-gauge tactical shotgun and two pistols.

In addition, ammunition for up to three different weapons was located in two of the points on the Costa Brava where it is presumed that hashish landings were carried out; in Culip cove (Cadaqués) and in Giverola cove (Tossa de Mar).

One of the factors why researchers consider that the danger has increased with this type of incident is that people have been detected at the service of the organization with the role of guaranteeing security during drug landings on the beach and the immediate transfers to the "kindergartens", where they deposited it before distributing it.

During the investigation, a group of five people was identified in charge of fulfilling this task. In fact, in October 2023, in Girona, two of these men were arrested when they were allegedly returning from a drug escort, and they were carrying two loaded assault rifles in the trunk of the rental vehicle they used.