Hit the drug trade on a large scale. Agents of the Civil Guard, In a joint operation with the National Police, the Tax Agency and Europol, they have dismantled an international criminal organization settled in Spain and the Netherlands, and linked to the Mexican poster of the Beltrán Leyva, allegedly dedicated to the introduction of cocaine and methamphetamine into Europe through the Port of Barcelona.
With this operation, the investigation of which has lasted over three years, it has been possible to Largest Methamphetamine Intervention in History, with the seizure of a total of 2,549 kilograms of methamphetamine, 1,370 kilograms of cocaine and 17,000 liters of chemical products for the production of narcotic drugs. The operation, carried out in Barcelona, Tarragona, the Toledo town of Talavera de la Reina and Valencia, in addition to the Netherlands and Turkey, has concluded with the arrest of 16 people.
With this police intervention, the main route of introduction in Europe of these narcotic substances through the Port of Barcelona. Those responsible controlled a novel way to introduce the drug, which consisted of create hidden rooms in concrete blocks, making it undetectable before port controls, according to the police in a statement.
Since 2017 investigating
The investigations began in 2017 as a result of the flows of information and national and international police cooperation on an exporting company suspected of being used by Mexican cartels in the introduction of large quantities of narcotics in the European continent. In this way, the agents began to monitor a Mexican merchant that could be introducing significant amounts of narcotic substance. in Europe through Spain.
This company, located in Mexico, would be at the disposal of the Beltrán Leyva cartel, who, using some precast concrete thermal blocks intended for construction, they hid the drug inside. In this way, they took advantage of the infrastructure of their international trade operations, coming from South and Central America, to take over the European market for narcotic substances.
The historical routes of coca
The investigations suggested that the Mexican cartels were trying to “break & rdquor; or “flood & rdquor; the European market for the famous narcotic substance known as crystal meth or methamphetamine. Taking advantage of the historical cocaine routes that they dominated, they were folding into a new incipient market in Europe with this new substance that they themselves elaborated in the jungle areas of Mexico.
As a result of the coordination of the police agencies, it was learned that in 2019, the Netherlands Police intervened in a warehouse in Rotterdam a total of 2,500 kilograms of pure methamphetamine (‘crystal meth’). Continuing with the investigation, a warehouse could be detected in the town of Utrecht, where a total of 17,000 liters of chemical products for the production of narcotics were stored. These substances came from a company based in Spain and in charge of introducing the drug on behalf of the Mexican cartel.
Mexican company
In a second phase of investigation, a shipping of maritime containers to Barcelona, Therefore, a strict and permanent control was established over them in order to identify other people or companies that could be involved in their release, customs clearance and corresponding reception. Inside, the same thermal concrete blocks were found, packed with the same blue tape and the same corporate logo of the mexican company. Once an inspection was carried out on their content, it was found that inside several of them there were multiple packages with narcotic substances hidden inside, which, once weighed, threw the amount of 536 kilograms of cocaine.
When the investigation was more advanced, the police forces of Spain and the Netherlands began to join forces in a coordinated way with Europol to dismantle the organization. It remained to dismantle the upper part of the criminal organization, which would have taken refuge in the Netherlands, where it continued to control its investments and money laundering from drug trafficking. Said action would be motivated by the objective of hitting the criminal organization, which kept all its properties and profits intact in other countries. The final results of this exploitation allowed the intervention and seizure of three luxury properties in the Netherlands, the blocking and intervention of nine bank accounts and a total of eight high-end vehicles.
Laundering in Spain
The investigation continued to determine the structure of money laundering that the criminal organization had in Spain, having proven the existence of numerous bank movements with origin or destination in Mexico for high amounts, which were received by the members of the Beltrán Leyva cartel. This remittance of funds was carried out through the collaboration of Spanish businessmen based in Talavera de la Reina and Valencia, who had designed a complex business network to launder the funds obtained through drug trafficking.
Related news
The investigations revealed the masking of large amounts of money from the United Arab Emirates and Hong Kong, which were transferred to Mexico using the bank accounts of Spanish companies. These funds, which in all probability were the product of drug trafficking, were deposited in the bank accounts of the investigated companies and entered into the Spanish financial system with destination Mexico. without being able to conclude its commercial origin.
Once the investigation was concluded, the operation related to the arrest of these people was ordered and three entry and search procedures were carried out in which a large number of incriminating documents and various electronic effects were intervened, as well as four long firearms. The two investigated were arrested.
Reference-www.elperiodico.com