A criminal organization that was dedicated to the introduction of cocaine financed by tobacco smuggling has been dismantled

Joint operation by the Tax Agency and the National Police

• Within the framework of the operation, ten individuals from the network, which was based in the provinces of Seville and Cádiz, have been arrested.
• 500 kilos of cocaine destined for Santiponce (Seville) and more than 800 kilos of smuggled tobacco have been seized, as well as several vehicles, cash and other effects after carrying out a total of twelve searches at the organization's homes and warehouses.

April 25, 2022 .- The Customs Surveillance Service of the Tax Agency, in a joint operation with the National Police, has dismantled a criminal organization based in the provinces of Seville and Cádiz that is was allegedly dedicated to the introduction and subsequent distribution of large quantities of cocaine that he acquired with the profits obtained from tobacco smuggling.

The operation, directed by the head of the Court of Instruction number 4 of Seville with the support of the Prosecutor's Office, has resulted in the arrest of ten people from this network and the seizure of half a ton of cocaine, more than 800 kilos of cocaine. contraband tobacco, several vehicles, cash and other effects after carrying out a dozen searches in warehouses and homes that the organization had scattered in eight towns in the provinces of Cádiz and Seville.

The operation began at the beginning of this year, when investigators learned of the existence of a criminal organization that intended to introduce a large amount of cocaine into the province of Seville, using containers from South America.

Cocaine on a load of wooden pallets

As a result of the different investigation efforts, and after the careful analysis of the customs documentation, the arrival at the port of Algeciras of two containers with contents declared 'wooden pallets' was detected. Originating in Asunción (Paraguay), the merchandise was going to be imported by a company based in the province of Seville, related to the organization that was already being investigated. The container route, which began in Paraguay, continued through Argentina and Morocco, until reaching Spain.

At the beginning of last March, the containers arrived at the port of Algeciras, where they were unloaded and the contents inspected. Inside one of the containers, behind two wooden pallets, a type of chest was detected that contained a total of 500 packages of cocaine, rectangular in shape, approximately one kilo each.

Container tracking

After their discovery, officials from the Customs Surveillance Service of the Tax Agency in Seville, and agents from the National Police, proceeded to monitor and supervised delivery of the containers.

Days later, the container transporting the drugs, following orders from the smuggling organization, was taken to a warehouse located in the town of Santiponce (Seville). As a result of the special monitoring operation, four individuals were arrested: one of them inside the ship, another who carried out counter-surveillance tasks in the surroundings, also the tenant of the ship and, finally, the administrator of the importing company.

Subsequently, six entries and searches were carried out in different homes and warehouses in the Sevillian towns of Santiponce, Camas, Valencina de la Concepción and Seville capital, in one of them 808 kilos of chopped tobacco were seized and thus uncovering the involvement of two new companies in tobacco smuggling.

Subsequently, it was possible to seize the shipment, already underway, of 28.5 kilos more of tobacco cuts in the name of the two companies involved, bringing the total number of tobacco cuts seized to 836.5 kilos.

In this way, the use of tobacco smuggling to obtain the necessary financing to cover the costs of purchasing and introducing the drug was revealed.

New searches and arrests

In a later phase, this April, six other searches were carried out in different homes and warehouses located in the Sevillian towns of Gines, Mairena del Aljarafe, Camas and Palomares del Río, as well as in Algeciras (Cádiz).

Six other people related to previous drug trafficking and tobacco smuggling operations were also arrested. Electronic devices, three vehicles, a motorcycle, a frequency detector, numerous documentation and 29,000 euros in cash were seized.