Violent gangs make the leap to organized crime

Operation Jake Sport of the National Police has revealed an important qualitative leap in the internal organization of violent youth gangs, formerly known as "Latin gangs" because the first of their kind copied the functioning of Latin American criminal groups.

The operation has resulted in 66 detainees, of which 19 are members of the Dominican Don't Play (DDP) based in Madrid, and nine are cybercriminals with police records for fraud.

All of them are accused of belonging to a criminal organization.

One of the police officers explained this Wednesday at a press conference that these gangs "are no longer financed with the fees contributed by the members, but have allied themselves with another criminal organization, in this case

, on an international scale, which that brought them important benefits with which they could pay their lawyers, the families of some of their components who were in prison, buy weapons and drugs to sell them at retail.”

Thus, the gangs have now opted for "a whiter crime", which brings them significant economic benefits - the Police have estimated an amount of half a million euros obtained from fraud - and carries less risk than ordering or committing robberies or robberies in full street.

In this way, important members of the DDP had established alliances with members of an organization dedicated to Internet fraud that used

(theft of financial data from victims to control and operate freely from their accounts).

"Bank movements of up to two million euros have been detected by members of this

organization, " one of the researchers exemplified.

The symbiotic relationship between both groups, gang members and

represents a further step in the criminal escalation of the gangs, in full swing throughout Spain.

This criminal organization committed bank fraud using social engineering techniques (sending emails and messages through social networks to potential victims) throughout the territory.

The gang members provided the cybercriminal organization with bank accounts opened by members of the gang so that they could divert the funds obtained fraudulently from the accounts of those affected.

In exchange, the members of the plot received around 30% of the profits obtained, according to the agents of the investigation.

It was precisely those accounts in the name of components of the DDP that alerted the investigators.

“We collected up to 59 complaints with a similar

and for a total fraud of half a million euros so far”,

In the investigation, which began earlier this year, both agents from the Computer Crime and Bank Fraud Unit of the General Judicial Police Station and the group of Latino gangs from the Madrid Provincial Information Brigade have participated.

The investigators suspect that the contact between the gang and the

organization was established in prison, and developed outside later, although they also do not rule out that the

went looking for some of the gang leaders best connected to their premises or areas of activity. meeting.

“The members of the criminal gang did not hesitate to intimidate, attack and make threats, even death threats, to the

[people who transport drugs] during the recruitment process [and subsequent opening of the bank account], to whom they promised the possibility of being part of the gang or rising in rank within it”, collects a police note.

Cybercriminals also stole money from accounts using

(a criminal technique that combines the theft of banking information with fraudulent websites and a phone call pretending to be employees of the victim's bank) and

(text or instant messaging messages with which the criminal tries to make the user believe that they have made a fraudulent purchase in his name to urge him to call a telephone number from which they will obtain his bank details).

Two pistols, three shotguns and five machetes

In the 19 searches carried out simultaneously in Madrid, Getafe, Pozuelo de Alarcón (both in Madrid) and Soria, two pistols, three shotguns, five machetes, ammunition, narcotic substances, bank cards, cash, as well as as elements and literature related to the norms and structure of the PDDs.

Among the detainees are two members of the gang who allegedly ordered the assassination attempt on a former member of the Trinitarios, a group they wanted revenge on since 2009. The event occurred on June 5, when two young people entered a Madrid cider house and they shot at point-blank range a waiter who had belonged to the rival group.

One of those arrested now, in addition, forced the authors to keep the phone on when they were in the bar to be able to listen live to the development of the assignment.

Subsequently, the Police arrested another member of the DDP who had also ordered the murder.

During the operation, the agents also seized three and a half kilograms of marijuana and other smaller amounts of different drugs, six precision scales for weighing the drug and two marijuana plantations have been dismantled.

The agents also seized 6,000 euros in cash and 800 dollars (about 785 euros), as well as 32 bank cards and more than 80 scanned identity documents from third parties ready to be used in fraudulent legal transactions.

Likewise, they located bank documentation, computer material and documents related to the structure of the criminal gang that are pending analysis, so the investigation, directed by the Court Number 36 of Plaza de Castilla in Madrid, is still open and they are not ruled out. new arrests.

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