The intervention in Galicia of the largest cocaine laboratory in Europe confirms that drug traffickers want to produce on the European continent

One of the heads of the National Police explains the process of transforming the base paste into high-purity cocaine after the dismantling of the largest laboratory in Europe.FERNANDO VILLAR (EFE)

For some time now, the agents of the Central Narcotics Brigade of the National Police have been following the trail of drug traffickers settled in Gran Canaria who they had already arrested on occasion.

What they did not expect is that they were setting up the infrastructure to create "the largest cocaine paste processing laboratory in Europe," in the words of Antonio Martínez Duarte, the head of that unit, who has been fighting drug trafficking for more than half a century.

The intervention of the ship and the villa in Pontevedra where they set up a kind of cocaine manufacturing industry confirms the tendency of drug traffickers to leave the jungles and install their laboratories in Europe, "to lower costs and reduce risks", according to the analysis of those responsible of the Drug and Organized Crime Unit (UDYCO).

For almost a year - the operation began in October 2022 - the agents have been following the footsteps of the two Canarian drug traffickers, who have now been arrested, and have analyzed their trips to Mexico, where the heads of the organization are presumably located, who collaborated closely with Colombian liaisons.

Some of the latter were located in Madrid, where the group had its financing base and initially, in a chalet in Colmenar Viejo, the

chemical products

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Little by little, buying through intermediary companies in small quantities, they stored a total of 25,000 liters of chemical substances used to transform coca paste into high-purity cocaine.

The coca paste was exported from Colombia to Portugal, where it arrived embedded in a kind of gigantic propeller used in quarry machinery to break stones.

"To get it out of there they had to use radials and mechanical hammers."

That first process was carried out in a warehouse in an industrial estate in Pontevedra.

Then they transported the stolen paste rocks to an isolated country house some ten kilometers away, where six Colombian "cooks" were "locked up and in slavery," expressly brought from the jungle, to produce 200 kilos of cocaine per month. day for a month, according to police estimates.

All of them had their telephone numbers and documentation withdrawn to avoid leaks or that they could escape, and they have been detained together with two Mexican citizens who acted as "notaries" of this operation, that is, as informants of the evolution of the process. for the heads of the organization.

The drug traffickers used a Spanish businessman - who has also been arrested - based in Bilbao and a friend of the Canaries to rent the warehouse and the house in Pontevedra.

In total, the police have arrested 18 people in this action: eleven in Galicia, one in the Basque Country, four in Madrid, and two in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, in addition to seizing 1,300 kilos of cocaine base, 150 kilos of coca already processed and 25,000 liters of chemical products, "also avoiding an environmental disaster since its final destination was the nearest river," the agents warned.

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The operation has participated, together with the National Police, the Polícia Judiciária of Portugal and the Anti-Narcotics Directorate (DIRAN) of Colombia under the direction, coordination and supervision of the Special Anti-drug Prosecutor of the National Court and the Central Court of Instruction Number 2 of the National Court.

The judge has sent all the detainees to prison.

Likewise, he has ordered the blocking of 17 properties —for an approximate value of 1,700,000 euros— and 37 financial products, waiting to quantify their value.

“The disjointed criminal organization had a high level of sophistication and its members, who had a clear distribution of functions, used strong security measures, such as the use of nicknames, the use of shuttle vehicles, the use of transporter disguises or the submission of their communications to a strict security protocol”, reads the police note.

According to the agents, "they only went out through a window to smoke."

Security measures

With the first police efforts, the agents revealed a large number of movements between Las Palmas and the Peninsula —and also, specifically, between Madrid and Pontevedra—, although those investigated formed several action cells to reduce contact between them and avoid raising suspicions.

They also found out that the organization had a chalet in the Madrid town of Colmenar Viejo that it used to store a large quantity of chemical products and other supplies.

In the criminal organization there was a clear distribution of functions.

The Colombians provided the human resources in the form of "cooks" or laboratory chemists, while the Mexicans provided the technical knowledge for the correct extraction of the coca base, which was transported hidden in large stone crushing machines (specifically in two metal cylinders that are part of its components).

In addition, they were also in charge of supervising that the coca base from Colombia was properly processed.

Spanish individuals handled the bulk of the operation;

that is to say, the management of the transport of the substance from the country of origin (Colombia) until its reception in Pontevedra for its corresponding treatment in the laboratory, whose installation was also in charge,

During the past month of October, the researchers observed an exponential increase in the organization's activities.

Once again, and after a reasonable time, they began to move the chemical products, machinery, and supplies necessary for the establishment of the laboratory.

This was carried out under strong and strict security measures, including the use of shuttle vehicles and the establishment of observation points to detect possible police presence.

At this time, the agents managed to locate the exact point of what has turned out to be the largest dismantled cocaine hydrochloride processing laboratory in Europe.

It was a large villa, located in a municipality in Pontevedra, away from other homes and surrounded by a large plot.

In addition, a few weeks later, they detected the presence of three men of South American origin who had been introduced under strong security measures.

At the same time, the investigators learned that the network intended to import a large stone-crushing machine from Colombia through the Portuguese port of Leixões (in Matosinhos, near Porto).

To do this, they turned to a Basque businessman who created an

company with the aim of ensuring the entry of the hidden narcotic substance inside the two mechanical cylinders that made up the stone crusher.

It is at this time that the investigation acquired an international character.

Thanks to police cooperation with the Portuguese authorities, who began investigations into the activities of the investigated organization in their country, constant trips and meetings of several of its members with people linked to the Portuguese port were detected.

A disbursement of two million

All members of the organization submitted their communications to a strict security protocol.

Each of them was assigned a nickname and it was completely forbidden for them to use their first names.

In these communications, “the gentlemen” were especially relevant, who were the heads of the laboratory and those in charge of giving instructions and orders, from their places of origin, to their subordinates in Spain.

It was precisely these people who would have disbursed an approximate amount of two million euros to establish the clandestine laboratory.

On the other hand, to finance the high costs of the activities, the members of the so-called “office” that the international criminal organization had in our country were in charge of delivering cash.

To do this, they used different locations and people.

After completing the production process of the first batch of drugs, the organization began to prepare its distribution using a delivery van from a well-known courier company.

Simulating the collection of four packages, they transported 100 kilos of cocaine that the agents seized when they intercepted said vehicle at the entrance to the Community of Madrid.

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