• This is the second phase of an investigation that began in February 2022 with the arrest of one defendant and three more and one person investigated in December for a drug trafficking crime.

May 29, 2024.- Customs Surveillance officials of the Tax Agency in a joint operation with the National Police have brought to light the origin of the assets of a criminal organization that is believed to have obtained more than half a million euros from drug trafficking. They are charged with money laundering combined with the crime of belonging to a criminal organization and a crime against public health for which they were already arrested in December 2022.

The investigation began in 2022 within the framework of Operation Atlantis when National Police officers from the León Provincial Police Station were investigating the commission of a crime against public health. Investigators were following the steps of a man who was in charge of managing drivers with the aim of introducing drugs into the city of León for the subsequent distribution of narcotic substances. The vehicles they used belonged to one of the accused and they hid the drugs in hidden compartments, holes known as 'caletas'.

In the first phase of the investigation and as a result of house searches carried out with the relevant judicial authorisation, 4 kilos of cocaine and 33,000 euros in cash were seized, as well as drug disposal tools and various vehicles, leading to the arrest of three individuals and one more being investigated, all of them for a crime against public health.

It was suspected from the beginning that the profits obtained from the sale of cocaine were being laundered through two companies, one dedicated to the operation of nightlife venues and another related to construction, so the investigation continued after the arrests.

That is why, despite the money seized from those under investigation at the time of their arrests, which amounted to 33,000 euros in cash, the Provincial Police Station of León, in coordination with the Tax Agency of this capital, in order to investigate more thoroughly the accounts of those arrested as well as those of their entourage, has carried out an investigation which, after its completion, has resulted in the appearance of more than half a million euros, distributed among bank accounts, properties and financial assets.

The work carried out by the Customs Surveillance agents in carrying out a laborious investigation has focused not only on the detainees but also on their environment.

Investigators have examined his bank accounts and real estate transactions and have found significant financial discrepancies.

The suspects used twenty-six current accounts in the name of third parties, including minors, and legal entities, being participants in various financial assets through which they laundered significant sums of money originating from the distribution of narcotic substances, without any other activity being recorded that could justify the income that appeared in those bank accounts.

Eight witnesses have testified and have come to corroborate the suspicions of the investigators, revealing the level of specialization of the criminal organization to which they belonged.

One of the suspects is currently in prison serving a six-year sentence and a fine of one million euros. He and three other people are accused of committing a new crime, in this case money laundering, and according to the current Criminal Code, the perpetrators are punishable by imprisonment for between six months and six years, in addition to a fine of three times the amount of money defrauded.