Operation by the Tax Agency and Civil Guard, with the collaboration of Europol, DEA and the Cape Verde Judicial Police

• Modified firearms, more than €600,000 in cash, 16 vehicles and five boats have been seized, and movable and immovable property worth more than €2 million has been blocked.

• A cocaine processing and cutting laboratory was raided on a property in Tenerife where a large quantity of highly harmful chemicals were stored, as well as the necessary utensils for the processing and adulteration of cocaine.

• The main person in charge of the organization controlled national and foreign companies in the restaurant, real estate investment and vehicle rental sectors and was linked to fishing companies and other assets hidden from third parties.

September 23, 2025.- The Tax Agency and the Civil Guard, in what has been dubbed Operation "Silbo," have managed to dismantle one of the most active drug trafficking criminal organizations centered in the Canary Islands, arresting 34 people in nearly 40 raids carried out across Spain.

This investigation, launched more than two years ago by the Tax Agency's Customs Surveillance Service and the Civil Guard's Central Operational Unit (UCO), has been supported by the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Cape Verde Judicial Police, all coordinated by Europol.

During the operational phase of this operation, projects have been carried out on the islands of Tenerife, La Gomera, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, and Fuerteventura, as well as in other provinces such as Madrid, Barcelona, Pontevedra, A Coruña, and Málaga.

Tenerife businessman

The investigation centered on a 42-year-old businessman from Tenerife, primarily involved in the nightlife, restaurant, and construction sectors, and also involved with several companies abroad. All of this was used, as investigators have been able to corroborate, to run a complex criminal organization from the Canary Islands, smuggling significant shipments of narcotics at the regional, national, and international levels.

Several cocaine introductions via mother ships

In parallel with his business management, this businessman directly negotiated the delivery of significant quantities of cocaine from mother ships originating in South America to other vessels he managed, for subsequent entry into the Canary Islands, primarily.

In this scenario, investigators seized two significant shipments bound for Santa Cruz de Tenerife, one of them containing 500 kilos of cocaine in January 2024, on a vessel that had previously transferred it from a ship from South America. Later, in November of the same year, another seizure of 1,600 kilos of the same substance was detected.

In this second case, the leader of this criminal organization had arranged for a fishing boat in Guinea-Bissau, along with an associate based in Galicia, with the intention of supplying himself with the narcotic in the same way as the previous arrest, taking advantage of the well-known "African cocaine route."

Hashish destined for the United Kingdom

Similarly, this individual had maritime and land infrastructure on other islands in the archipelago, used to receive significant quantities of hashish from Morocco, which were then sent to the United Kingdom, achieving a rapid return of economic benefits. Investigators have identified several meetings with British nationals on the Costa del Sol related to drug trafficking in that country.

The parallel economic investigation revealed that the organization's main leader had built a corporate network for money laundering, making significant investments in various economic sectors through domestic and foreign companies in the restaurant sector, real estate investments, and others, using trusted third parties for these purposes.

He was also linked to fishing companies and other assets hidden from third parties, and he also used a vehicle rental company to launder the profits obtained from drug trafficking and to distribute narcotics through his fleet.

 

Thus, last April, 66 kilos of cocaine were seized that were intended to be smuggled into Tenerife using a vehicle belonging to this company, concealed inside the vehicle by means of a sophisticated hydraulic system. It was discovered that this shipment had previously been stolen from another criminal group, for which a member of the group had been kidnapped.

Extremely violent members

The now-dismantled criminal group used a Cuban national and a Colombian national, both with military training, to carry out violent actions against specific targets to seize assets of various kinds, even forcing a third party in the south of Tenerife to seize land in the municipality of Candelaria.

Throughout the investigation, it was also revealed that they were also planning to acquire illegal firearms on the Peninsula, while providing military training to other members of the group.

Laboratory in Tenerife

This operation involved seizing a cocaine processing and cutting laboratory on a property in El Escobonal, on the island of Tenerife, where they stored a large quantity of highly harmful chemicals, as well as the equipment needed for processing and adulterating cocaine.

This investigation, led by the Investigating Court No. 3 of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, and carried out by the Customs Surveillance Service of the Tax Agency and the Central Operational Unit (Team Against Organized Crime, ECO Canarias), has resulted in the seizure of 2,185 kilos of cocaine, modified firearms in perfect working order, more than 600,000 euros in cash, 16 vehicles and five boats (a fishing boat, a sailboat and three speedboats), as well as the freezing of movable and immovable property worth more than two million euros.