Joint operation by the Tax Agency and the National Police

• All 18 members of the criminal organization have been arrested, including its five leaders.

• Searches have been carried out at 12 locations in Barcelona, ​​Tarragona and Valencia, where companies, the homes of those under investigation and tax warehouses have been seized.

• As part of the operation, which included additional actions in Portugal and Belgium, numerous accounts belonging to individuals and companies have been blocked, and vehicles, 40 real estate properties and more than 430,000 euros in cash have been seized.

March 27, 2026. Tax Agency officials and National Police officers, in an operation coordinated by the European Prosecutor's Office, have dismantled a criminal organization that allegedly defrauded 32.8 million euros in the trade of alcoholic beverages. As part of this operation, 18 members of the organization have been arrested, including the five ringleaders, and searches have been carried out in 12 locations in Barcelona, ​​Tarragona and Valencia, involving companies and homes of the suspects and tax warehouses, in addition to complementary actions in Portugal and Belgium. The operation also resulted in the blocking of numerous accounts belonging to individuals and companies, and the seizure of vehicles, 40 properties linked to the criminal network and more than 430,000 euros in cash. In addition, multiple electronic devices, including mobile phones, have been seized, as well as abundant documentation of interest to the investigation. 

The investigation began when investigators became aware of the existence of a criminal network operating through shell companies in Belgium, Portugal, and Spain. The investigation revealed how they used false invoices to evade taxes derived from the import and sale of large quantities of alcoholic beverages in the Spanish market.

As the investigation progressed, it was discovered that the fraudulent system was centered on two tax warehouses in Spain; That is, in facilities where certain products can be stored without paying taxes immediately. VAT was only generated when the goods left these warehouses for distribution or consumption, so it was then that the participation of fraudulent intermediaries, known as 'phantom companies', was detected, who acquired the alcoholic beverages and assumed the tax obligation in order to disappear afterwards without paying the tax.

A VAT fraud hidden behind a network of shell companies

The merchandise was subsequently resold through a chain of fictitious companies that used false invoices to conceal the fraudulent circuit until its final distribution in Spain. These operations generated VAT that was never paid in, allowing the network to obtain significant illicit profits.

According to the researchers' calculations, the criminal activity would have generated approximately 32.8 million euros between 2019 and 2025, causing damage equivalent to the coffers of the Spanish State and the budget of the European Union. The investigation also suggests that the profits may have been laundered, and that at least one of the companies involved had connections with the Turks and Caicos Islands, a British Overseas Territory.

Investigation opened in an international operation against fraud

The operation, coordinated by the European Public Prosecutor's Office, was carried out by officials from the Tax Agency, in coordination with agents from the Economic and Fiscal Crime Unit (UDEF) of the National Police, and with the collaboration of the authorities of Portugal and Belgium. The investigation remains open and further actions within the framework of the operation are not ruled out.