Joint operation between 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 southern Spain has reportedly coordinated with an organization based in Catalonia to successfully carry out drug landings on the Catalan coast.

• On June 11, an operation was carried out that 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 the landing of drugs on the beach and the transfers to the 'nurseries' for storage and subsequent distribution.

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

June 19, 2024.- Officials from the Customs Surveillance Service of the Tax Agency and agents from 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 of the investigation, the joint team has arrested 40 people (26 of whom have been imprisoned). They are accused of belonging to a criminal organization, crimes against public health in the form of drug trafficking and illegal 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 overseen by the Court of Instruction number 4 of La Bisbal d'Empordà, has led to the discovery of a criminal network with a strong capacity to introduce hashish through the Catalan coast. The investigation began in September last year and continued until June 11, when the exploitation phase of the operation was carried out.

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

The detainees were brought before the Court of Instruction No. 4 of La Bisbal on June 13. After being brought before a court, the judge ordered 22 of the detainees to be sent to prison.

Begur, the "ground zero" of the investigation

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

Following this incident, and based on initial investigations, investigators identified several people who were allegedly involved in the landing, and who were already being investigated by the Customs Surveillance Service Unit of the Tax Agency in Girona, so a joint investigation team was 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 the drugs, or when police forces thwart the landings.

In these situations, criminal organisations, such as the one under investigation, increase their illicit activity to recover, by increasing drug landings.

The criminal network under investigation did not hesitate to modify its 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 profits. Investigators estimate that they would have landed a shipment of hashish every two weeks and that each boat could reach the coast loaded with an average of three tons of hashish.

An organization from the south that operates in Catalonia

The investigation has shown that, for the first time, a criminal organisation specialising in hashish trafficking and based in the south of Spain, specifically in Malaga, has coordinated with another organisation based in Catalonia, in Manlleu (Barcelona), to successfully carry 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 final person located in Melilla was investigated. This group travelled to Catalonia to receive the drugs in the Catalan coves and distribute them on the European illicit market.

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

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

Hashish landings frustrated

From the beginning of the investigation until the dismantling of the criminal network, investigators believe that the organisation had made 19 landings of hashish at different points on 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 places 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 Cala d'Aiguafreda, in the municipality of Begur, containing a shipment of 2,903 kilos of hashish.

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

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

• On May 19, the same team seized 38 bales in Maçanet de la Selva (Girona), 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, June 7, as part of the investigation, a police operation was established in Maresme to intercept a shipment of hashish by sea, with the collaboration of naval resources, 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 under investigation, which attempted to transfer the drugs to another organization that was waiting for them on land. The police deployment, using maritime, air and land resources, caused the occupants of this first boat to throw 77 bales of hashish weighing approximately three tonnes overboard during their escape. Moments later, a second vessel operated by the criminal network under investigation was also intercepted.

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

Use of firearms to protect drug shipments

One of the characteristics of the suspects that has alerted the police team is the quantity of weapons and ammunition found in various criminal acts linked to this network. Five firearms were seized, including two loaded war weapons, a 12-gauge tactical shotgun and two pistols.

In addition, ammunition from up to three different weapons was found at two points on the Costa Brava where hashish landings are presumed to have taken place; in Culip cove (Cadaqués) and in Giverola cove (Tossa de Mar).

One of the factors that investigators believe has increased the danger of this type of incident is that people have been detected in the service of the organization with the role of guaranteeing security during the unloading of drugs on the beach and the immediate transfers to the "nursery" facilities, where they were deposited before distributing them.

During the investigation, a group of five people was identified as being responsible for carrying out this task. In fact, in October 2023, in Girona, two of these men were arrested when they were allegedly returning from a drug delivery, and were carrying two loaded assault rifles in the trunk of the rental vehicle they were using.