Joint operation by the Tax Agency and the National Police

• 16 people arrested in Las Palmas, Tenerife, Madrid and A Coruña after twelve house searches were carried out
• The organization was linked to violent football ultra movements
• 250,000 doses of anabolic drugs have been seized and it is estimated that the organization received about one ton in one year.

April 21, 2023.- Customs Surveillance officials from the Tax Agency and agents from the National Police have arrested sixteen people in the provinces of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Tenerife, Madrid and A Coruña for their alleged participation in crimes of belonging to a criminal organization and against public health.

The operation was carried out jointly by the Customs Surveillance Service and the National Police, under the direction of the Investigative Court No. 1 of Coslada.

The investigation began in April last year when agents learned that anabolic hormones were being trafficked from Bulgaria and Portugal to Spain. Following the investigation, it was found that the recipient of the packages containing these substances was also linked to radical football groups.

The modus operandi of this organisation is based on receiving illegal medicinal substances (hormonal anabolics) that were sent to Spain from countries such as Portugal, Bulgaria and the United Kingdom.

Once in Spain, two cells of the organisation, from the provinces of Madrid and La Coruña, received these substances and sent them to the Canary Islands by postal parcel, trying to avoid border controls, and using the affiliation of third parties.

Almost a ton of anabolic steroids in one year

With this modus operandi, the organization, during the year 2022, would have imported an amount greater than 900 kilos of anabolic steroids, which provided its members with huge benefits that supported the high standard of living they flaunted on social media.

Following an investigation that lasted almost a year, on March 22, a police operation was established to arrest a total of 16 people and carry out twelve simultaneous searches in the provinces of Tenerife, Las Palmas, Madrid and A Coruña.

As a result of these searches, some 250,000 doses of illegal anabolic drugs have been seized. Other narcotic substances, cash, computer equipment that will be analyzed, and extensive documentation on shipments made by the network were also seized.

The detainees were brought before the courts of the various affected judicial districts, with the judge of the Court of Instruction No. 1 of Coslada (Madrid) being the one in charge of the case.