Operation of the Tax Agency, Civil Guard and National Police

• In Madrid, another clandestine laboratory has been dismantled for the extraction of coca alkaloid and subsequent obtaining of cocaine.
• More than 104 kilos of 'speed', 2.4 kilos of ketamine and 1.3 kilos of cocaine have been seized
• The narcotic substances, once adulterated, would have become 450,000 doses, valued in the illicit market at almost five million euros

February 28, 2023.- The Customs Surveillance Service of the Tax Agency, the Civil Guard and the National Police, in the 'Kilos-Adeva-Disney' operation coordinated by the Intelligence against Terrorism and Organized Crime - CITCO - have dismantled a criminal group dedicated to the production and distribution in the north of Spain of significant quantities of narcotic substances, mainly 'speed' and cocaine, for which four people have been arrested —three Colombians and one Spaniard—, aged between 23 and 45 years, and residents in La Rioja and Madrid.

During the actions, two laboratories dedicated to the intensive production of amphetamine sulfate and the extraction of coca alkaloid to obtain cocaine have been dismantled; They worked at full capacity and it is estimated that they had a production capacity of about 150 kilos of 'speed' per month. Both laboratories had all the necessary instruments to process the precursor substances, obtain the 'speed' and extract the cocaine.

During the exploitation phase of the operation, a total of seven searches were carried out in the towns of Autol, Agoncillo, Arrubal and Lardero (La Rioja) and Leganés (Madrid), in which 104,794 grams of sulphate were seized. 'Speed' amphetamine, 2,456 grams of ketamine and 1,328 grams of cocaine, 290 liters of precursors, 15 kilos of cutting substances, 7,000 euros in cash, 21,000 euros in 'cryptocurrencies' and prohibited weapons. The highly pure narcotic substances seized, once adulterated, would have become 448,687 doses, valued on the illicit market at 4,973,413 euros.

The investigation began in August 2022, after the existence of a criminal group operating in La Rioja and Madrid, dedicated to the production and distribution of notorious quantities of narcotic substances, was discovered. Its members were being investigated by the Customs Surveillance Service of the Tax Agency, National Police and Civil Guard, which led to the establishment of a joint operation in the Intelligence Center against Terrorism and Organized Crime -CITCO-.

From that moment on, the 'Kilos-Disney-Adeva' operation began to take shape, with great complexity due to the security measures adopted by those investigated, the large infrastructure of homes to control and the numerous vehicles they used to move around Madrid. La Rioja and neighboring provinces.

With the information collected during the months of investigation, the agents managed to define in detail the entire infrastructure of the organization, its criminal network, the roles played by each of its members, its dangerousness, its bases of operations, the clandestine laboratories and the method they used to finally distribute the substances.

The exhaustive work of analysis and operational activity made it possible to discover that the criminal group was going to introduce a significant consignment of 'speed' and cocaine into the market. For this reason, the head of the Court of First Instance and Instruction number 3 of Logroño, with the approval of the Public Prosecutor's Office, was requested to enter and register seven properties.

After being authorized and carried out, narcotic substances, cash, 'cryptocurrencies' and prohibited weapons were involved, as well as the chemical compounds essential for the production of amphetamine sulfate and the extraction of coca alkaloid: hydrochloric acid, ethyl acetanol, alcohol, isopranol, sulfuric acid, ammonia, caustic soda, sodium carbonate, sulphate manganese and acetic acid, together with a vacuum sealer, gas masks, etc. 

It is significant that in one of the searches in La Rioja, instruments, chemicals and precursors were located for the imminent implementation of a coca alkaloid extraction laboratory to obtain cocaine.  

Those detained as alleged perpetrators of the crimes of belonging to a criminal group and against public health, after being heard in their statements, were placed at the disposal of the aforementioned court of Logroño, which ordered the imprisonment of three of the four detainees.

In addition to the team made up of Customs Surveillance officials from the Tax Agency -La Rioja and Madrid-, the Central Narcotics Brigade -UDYCO CENTRAL- and the EDOA of the Judicial Police of the Civil Guard in La Rioja, numerous uniformed personnel have collaborated both of the Civil Guard and the National Police - intervention or cynological units with dogs that detect narcotic substances.