Joint operation between the Tax Agency and the National Police

• The operation has resulted in the arrest of nine people and the seizure of 334 kilos of cocaine that was hidden inside pieces of backhoe machinery.

• A total of six entries and searches were carried out in the provinces of Alicante and Valencia

• The judge has ordered eight of the detainees to be sent to prison

January 29, 2025.- Officials from the Customs Surveillance Service of the Tax Agency and agents from the National Police, within the framework of Operation Safari, have carried out a joint investigation that has resulted in the dismantling of a criminal organization that imported large quantities of cocaine from South America. So far, nine people have been arrested and 299 packages of cocaine weighing 334 kilos have been seized, which were hidden inside pieces of backhoe machinery.

The investigation began in May of last year, after the dismantling of a criminal group that was engaged in stealing motorhomes for their subsequent reintroduction into the market by falsifying their identification elements.

After the arrest of the suspects, a series of notes were found that allowed the agents to carry out procedures that led them to locate a shipment from Colombia that raised their suspicions.

Through international cooperation channels, the shipment was located in Colombia and a total of 13 kilos of cocaine were seized hidden inside a transmission of industrial machinery, whose end-use was Spain.

Cocaine hidden in industrial machinery

In December, it was learned that two containers from Costa Rica were entering the port of Valencia, directly related to the organisation under investigation, and that, thanks to the efforts of the Valencia Customs Surveillance Service, they were identified.

The containers were transporting pieces of industrial machinery bound for Onda (Castellón), inside which the agents, thanks to the work of the Technical Intervention Operational Group of the National Police, who worked continuously for two days, managed to locate a total of 334 kilos of cocaine hidden inside several pieces.

From that moment on, a total of six raids and searches were carried out in the Valencian towns of El Puig de Santa María and Benetússer, and in the Alicante municipalities of La Nucía and Benidorm, leading to the arrest of a total of nine people for drug trafficking and membership of a criminal organisation.

False documentation among the seized items

As a result of the raids and searches, three kilos of methamphetamine, 25,000 euros in cash, nine vehicles and false documentation that the suspects used to carry out their operations were seized.

In this regard, one of the suspects used false Portuguese documentation with which he had practically developed a new life since 2019, resulting in a prison sentence ordered by the National Court for drug trafficking.

Following the completion of police investigations, the detainees have been brought before the Benidorm courts, with eight of the detainees being ordered to be sent to prison. The investigation is still open and further arrests are not ruled out.