Algeciras (Cádiz), (EFE).- The Civil Guard has arrested fifteen people and has intervened in the Port of Algeciras (Cádiz) almost 2.5 tons of cocaine hidden in tuna cans in a container from Ecuador, in a operation initiated against a criminal network based in Castro Urdiales (Cantabria).
The armed institute has reported in a statement that this intervention occurs within the framework of the “Xelinsulam-Albacares” operation, in which they also accuse those responsible for laundering 1.5 million euros through bank accounts and in neobanks, as well as various real estate.
The agents were able to connect an organization based in Cantabria with an ongoing investigation that was taking place in Algeciras, where those 2,458 kilos of cocaine hidden in tuna cans from a container from Ecuador were seized.
The investigators obtained sufficient evidence to attribute the seizure of the 2,458 kilos of cocaine to said organization, as well as to three commercial companies, proceeding to exploit the police operation in a coordinated manner in five different provinces (Cantabria, Bizkaia, Guipúzcoa, Madrid and Valencia).
A value of 87 million in the illegal market
The first arrests were made in the town of Amorebieta (Bizkaia) and later, after the agents witnessed the delivery of a kilo of amphetamine sulphate (“speed”) in an operation, four arrests and four searches were made, in which they were seized more than three kilos of marijuana ready for sale and two high-end vehicles.
As a result of these actions, the Civil Guard proceeded to arrest eleven more people for their alleged involvement in the introduction of almost 2.5 tons of cocaine.
In the records, a cocaine cutting laboratory was discovered in which all the necessary material for the manipulation of the drug was located, as well as more than 600 grams of cocaine in rock, several firearms, minor amounts of hashish and amphetamine. , 20,000 euros in cash, three high-end vehicles and a fourth vehicle of great value that had a police report for theft.
The total police valuation of the seized drug amounts to more than 87 million euros.
About thirty banks affected
The operation had begun in February 2022, when the agents learned of the existence of the aforementioned criminal network, based in Castro Urdiales (Cantabria), dedicated to massive fraud against banking entities.
The investigators verified that this organization had brought a group of people of Colombian origin with the intention of creating a security nucleus and establishing the necessary logistics to introduce cocaine through the port of Algeciras.
The Civil Guard managed to identify these Colombian citizens and verified that they were directly related to clandestine cocaine laboratories in Colombia, as well as to a network of hitmen and people on the run from justice in the United States.
The leaders of the organization placed front men at the head of a network of companies whose sole purpose was to establish a fictitious activity, covered by all kinds of fraudulent details, to justify the request for credits of very high amounts to banking entities.
The money was distributed automatically to other companies in the network, with accounts both in Spain and abroad.
The network made use of capital through credit cards from financial technology companies or neobanks. In addition, they led a life surrounded by luxuries, with high-end vehicles obtained through scams from leasing companies.
The network of bank scams is also being investigated, since the existence of at least 34 affected banks has been determined, as well as a multitude of vehicle leasing companies, as well as a great economic damage yet to be determined. EFE