Joint operation of the Tax Agency and the National Police

• The detainees hid the funds resulting from money laundering through the main activity of repair and maintenance of nautical vessels

• They are charged with the crimes of money laundering and belonging to a criminal organization, added to the crimes against public health for which they were already arrested.

• More than 28,000 euros in cash, two computers, a hard drive and various documentation have been seized

April 30, 2024.- Customs Surveillance Officials of the Tax Agency, in a joint operation with the National Police, have dismantled a criminal organization that would have obtained more than 680,000 euros from drug trafficking . The detainees hid the funds with the activity of repair and maintenance of nautical vessels, using bank accounts in Gibraltar from which cash later emerged for laundering in Spain.

The criminal activity consisted of the acquisition of boats that were used for drug trafficking and the purchase in Portugal of motors for high-powered boats, all of this concealed with the legal economic activity of the company. They are charged with the crimes of money laundering and belonging to a criminal organization, combined with the crime against public health for which they were already arrested. More than 28,000 euros in cash, two computers, a hard drive and various documentation have been seized.

The investigation began in 2022 when agents were investigating the commission of a crime against public health due to the seizure of 467 kilos of hashish on board a boat in June. At that time, an investigation into money laundering began regarding members of this criminal organization. Throughout the various investigations, the personal and business assets of the detainees were analyzed, as well as their financial situation. The agents investigated 19 bank accounts where sufficient evidence was found to justify the existence of a money laundering crime.

The money laundered by this criminal organization and coming from criminal activity amounts to more than 680,000 euros, money that was used for various property acquisitions, mainly in the nautical sector, through the introduction into the legal financial circuit of large amounts of cash from unknown origin.

The exploitation phase of the police operation was completed with the arrest of three people and an entry and search at the headquarters of the alleged company, whose main activity was the repair and maintenance of nautical vessels, located in an industrial estate in San Roque ( Cadiz).