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Dismantled an international plot that laundered 30 million euros of drug trafficking in Mallorca

2022-02-16T17:44:18.188Z


A European operation allows the arrest of 45 people from an organization that imported cocaine from South America and laundered the funds through real estate investments


Paintings worth more than five million euros, seven high-end vehicles and even a yacht moored in a port in Mallorca.

It is part of the loot seized in the Balearic Islands from some of the members of an international organization dedicated to cocaine trafficking and money laundering that has been dismantled after an operation carried out in several European countries.

In total, 45 people have been arrested, eight of them in Mallorca this week, accused of belonging to a criminal gang that "flooded" Europe with cocaine.

The macroperation, baptized as Casino Fantauxia, has made it possible to dismantle one of the largest drug trafficking networks on the continent, made up mostly of Albanian citizens.

The researchers maintain that the organization filled the streets of European cities with cocaine that was imported from South America and entered the continent through different ports, from where it was transferred to its final destination by plane, boat, truck and car.

"The detainees assumed the entire supply chain, from origin to destination," the National Police and the Civil Guard have reported in separate press releases.

Members of the organization used Spain and other European countries to launder profits from the sale of cocaine.

In Mallorca they had created an opaque corporate framework from which they laundered the money from the sale of drugs through the purchase of real estate assets and luxury items.

In Germany and Croatia they had similar structures in which they used figureheads to coordinate money laundering operations.

In fact, the members of the organization frequently traveled to Dubai, Mexico and Colombia to organize their businesses, always using encrypted tools to communicate and avoid being discovered.

Watches and money seized in Mallorca in the framework of a macro anti-drug operation coordinated by Europol and Eurojust. CIVIL GUARD (CIVIL GUARD / EFE)

In the operation, police officers from Spain (National Police and Civil Guard), Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Croatia, Italy and the United Kingdom have participated in a coordinated manner, which have also had the collaboration of the American FBI and the National British Crime Agency (NCA).

The operation has been coordinated by Europol and Eurojust, the European agency for reinforcing judicial coordination.

The operation began in 2018 with the creation of a joint working group between Spain and Belgium after the arrest of a high-level member of the criminal organization who is currently in preventive detention.

In January 2020, investigators managed to seize 440 kilos of cocaine in Barcelona, ​​where four Albanian citizens were arrested in an operation in which the DEA, the United States drug enforcement agency, also participated.

Months later, in September of that year, the Belgian police seized 2,500 kilos of chemicals ready to transform and preserve cocaine for commercial purposes.

This week the final blow has been dealt to the organization with simultaneous entries and searches in Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Belgium, Croatia and the United Kingdom and the participation of 580 members of the bodies and security forces from all over the continent.

In Mallorca, eight people have been arrested and 18 searches have been carried out in premises and homes, in which more than 203,000 euros in cash have been seized, as well as 40,000 euros in cryptocurrencies and numerous documents.

16 luxury watches, seven high-end cars, a yacht and 86 works of art with an estimated value of more than five million euros have also been immobilized.

Investigators estimate laundering in real estate investments on the island of Mallorca at more than 30 million euros.

In Belgium, the operation has allowed the arrest of 30 people and the intervention of 1.3 million euros in cash, in addition to 12 weapons, 10 kilos of cocaine, a Zodiac and luxury watches.

The investigators estimate that a large part of the cocaine seized in searches carried out on the continent in recent years is linked to those under investigation.

Source: elparis

All news articles on 2022-02-16

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