Joint operation of the Tax Agency and Mossos d'Esquadra

• During the course of the investigation, 1,146 kilos of hashish have been seized
• Police investigations have made it possible to prove the activity of the organization, which transported hashish in vans and trucks from its distribution center in Tarragona.
• The criminal organization laundered the money they obtained from drug trafficking
• The operation has resulted in nine detainees, among whom were the two leaders of the group. Three people have been imprisoned

March 7, 2023.- Customs Surveillance Officials of the Tax Agency, together with the Police of the Generalitat-Mossos d'Esquadra of the Criminal Investigation Division (DIC), They have dismantled a criminal organization dedicated to hashish trafficking and arrested nine people. This group operated from Morocco with the objective of transporting hashish by land to France and countries in central Europe and had its distribution center in the municipality of Cunit (Taragona). 

The investigation begins after on January 20, 2022, the Deltebre Local Police tried to stop an all-terrain vehicle in the Riumar area (Tarragona) while they were carrying out a police check. Upon noticing the police presence, the vehicle behaved evasively and fled. A short time later it was intercepted near the town of Deltebre. The agents searched the SUV and inside they found 21 bales of hashish with a total weight of 784 kilograms. The only occupant of the vehicle was detained for an alleged crime against public health. He had no police record. 

This arrest launched a police investigation in which members of the Customs Surveillance of the Tax Agency and the DIC of the Central Organized Crime Area and the Terres de l'Ebre Criminal Investigation Area participated, to determine the origin of the seized drugs and the activity of the criminal organization responsible for transportation. 

The investigation has highlighted the activity of a criminal organization dedicated to hashish trafficking with an operations center in Morocco and infrastructure in Spain. This group was dedicated to trafficking hashish from the African country, entering from the south of Spain by sea to France and central Europe by van or truck. As for Catalonia, the group had the town of Cunit as its distribution center: Sometimes it was the town where the vehicle change was made to continue the route towards France.

The organization had a structure led by two people, who managed a van and truck transportation network by land with several drivers who traveled alone. Another part of its members was in charge of laundering money from drugs. 

During the course of the investigation, on January 29, a truck was located in Manresa that was transporting 360 kilos of hashish hidden in the ground, operated by this criminal organization. Investigators arrested the driver, who had a police record, for drug trafficking and he was ordered to go to prison.

Two days later, once the investigators had been able to prove the criminal activity of the organization and had identified its members, a joint operation was carried out between both bodies with eleven entries and registration in the Tarragona towns of Cunit, Segur de Calafell, Amposta , Masdenverge and Castelló. This police action ended with the arrest of nine people, who added to the previous two of the drivers intercepted during transports. 

As a result of these entries and searches, the agents were able to seize 152,000 euros in cash; 1.7 kilos of hashish and six vehicles, including cars, vans and minivans, some of them high-end.

The seizure of the money shows that the organization handled large amounts of cash and to launder the income obtained from its illicit activities, some of those investigated were registered in a company that paid them a salary without actually being employees of the same. . The laundered income was passed into the financial system as legally obtained resources. 

Once at the disposal of the Investigative Court 3 of Tortosa, which is investigating the case, the judge ordered the imprisonment of three of the detainees while the rest were released with charges.

The investigation remains open and more arrests are not ruled out.