• Thirteen people arrested, including a Customs official and a businessman in the refrigerated food sector who collaborated with the port authority by providing a sophisticated scanner of his property for the detection of narcotics
• The judicial authority has ordered the imprisonment of six of the suspects

February 2, 2024.- Customs Surveillance of the Tax Agency, the Civil Guard and the National Police, in a joint operation, have seized 1,822 kilos of cocaine hidden in several containers that arrived in the country by sea, through the port of Malaga, from South America. The investigation has led to the dismantling of a criminal organisation that had the collusion of a Customs officer, who was inspecting containers and was arrested for allegedly facilitating the removal of drugs from the port. In addition, 12 others have been arrested, including a businessman in the refrigerated food sector who collaborated with the port authority until it was confirmed that he was at the top of the network, by providing a scanner of his property for the detection of narcotic substances. The competent judicial authority has ordered the provisional imprisonment of six of the suspects.

The two main suspects, the businessman and the public official, had created a strong infrastructure, according to investigators, to bring in 1,822 kilos of cocaine, seized in four operations by Customs Surveillance of the Tax Agency, the UDYCO Costa del Sol of the National Police and the EDOA of the Civil Guard, in Malaga.

A first apprehension, among bananas

Operation 'Farewell-Goodbye-Bragalia' began in February 2023, following the seizure of 611 kilos of cocaine hidden among a shipment of bananas. The raid took place at the premises of a company in the refrigerated fruit and vegetable sector, based in Malaga, whose manager collaborated with the authorities by providing a powerful scanner for drug detection, thereby holding a privileged position that allowed him to introduce other drug consignments from the criminal organisation to which he belonged.

Initially, inspections of containers suspected of containing narcotic substances were carried out at the company headquarters where the scanner was physically located.

Later, the same 'collaborating' company obtained a concession in the port, moving the scanner to the port facilities and appointing one of its own employees as a 'customs representative', in charge of controlling the technological device.

Following an initial arrest, the officers detected suspicious signs of criminal activity in the businessman, focusing their investigations on him, his closest family circle and the company's employees, as well as third parties related to drug trafficking. During the course of their investigations, investigators also discovered suspicions that would incriminate a Customs official.

In mid-June, in two new seizures, agents from the three forces seized 25 and 381 kilos of cocaine in a shipment of pineapples, arresting the suspected businessman and a transporter who was transporting the drugs to the company's headquarters, where they attempted to manipulate and extract the cocaine.

A fourth drug seizure was carried out in August 2023 by the Civil Guard in Santa Fe (Granada), with another 805 kilos of cocaine seized, also from the port of Malaga. On this occasion, the drugs were hidden behind a false partition, at the bottom of a container with legal merchandise - this procedure to camouflage the drugs is known in police jargon as the 'mirror bottom'.

After several arrests, the agents began to close in on the members of the network, managing to identify the rest of the members of the criminal organization who had participated in the events under investigation.

Nine entries and registrations in the provinces of Malaga and Granada

Finally, in the exploitation phase of the operation, nine searches were carried out: five in Malaga, two in Torremolinos (Malaga), one in Sierra de Yeguas (Malaga) and another in Guadix (Granada).

The investigation concluded with the arrest of 13 people, all of them in the province of Malaga. Among those arrested are, in addition to the businessman, some family members and several employees of the company, as well as a public official.

The last of the arrests took place on January 29, 2024, involving one of the ringleaders and one of those directly responsible for the seized drugs, who remained on the run until he was finally located.

They are accused, based on their participation, of committing the crimes of drug trafficking, membership in a criminal organization, disclosure of secrets, bribery and money laundering. The 14th Court of Instruction in Malaga is aware of the facts and six of the detainees have been remanded in custody.