• Four people have been arrested and five others investigated in the second phase of the "Vozka" operation.

June 7, 2024.- The Tax Agency and the Civil Guard, in a joint operation, within the framework of the second phase of the exploitation of the "vozka" operation, have arrested four people and investigated another five, belonging to a criminal organization dedicated to money laundering and drug trafficking. With this second phase, investigators have closed the operation following the arrest of the transporters and those in charge of moving the criminal organization's cash.

This criminal organization used the funds obtained from money laundering from drug trafficking to manufacture high-speed boats, which were later transported to the Strait of Gibraltar and used for drug trafficking and illegal transportation of immigrants.

The second phase of the operation focused on the arrest of the transporters who were engaged in transporting the motors and hulls, as well as the secondary members of the organization in charge of moving the cash.

As a result of this second phase, four people have been arrested and another five people involved in the criminal network have been investigated.

The members of this criminal organization performed functions related to the operation of the economic, corporate or banking structure, used for money laundering and as a cover to complete payments and acquire nautical material, which was being destined for the construction of "narco-boats" or in support of other maritime drug trafficking organizations that needed to supply themselves with this material with a certain opacity.

The modus operandi used by this organisation consisted of laundering money through accounts of fictitious or inactive companies, and then using these funds to purchase nautical material (outboard motors, radars, fibre optics, etc.) which they then transported and stored in a warehouse in the north of Portugal and, after erasing the numbers, was used to make "narco-boats", which were transported by truck to the Strait of Gibraltar area.

The Operation is led by the Investigative Court number 2 of Ourense, and by the Anti-Drug Prosecutor of the Ourense Prosecutor's Office.