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Europa Press
Malaga
Tuesday, 13 May 2025, 16:46
National Police officers have arrested eight people for laundering money from drug-trafficking. Their main activity was the sea transport of hashish from Morocco to the Spanish mainland. The searches and arrests took place in Malaga and Melilla.
The operation has concluded with the seizure of 350,000 euros in cash, vehicles and electronic devices, as well as the blocking of more than 250,000 euros in bank accounts. Such a blow to the financial side of the organisation has ensured its complete dismantling.
The investigation was carried out in several phases. The first step involved detecting how the organisation's leader and another member were travelling to the province of Almeria to carry out preparations for a drug shipment. At that stage, the officers arrested five people and seized 1,500 kilograms of hashish.
During the police operation, tools linked to drug-trafficking were seized: GPS devices, navigation devices, satellite telephones, firearms and two vehicles. All the members of the organisation were arrested following the searches in Malaga and Almeria.
Due to the quantity of narcotic substances seized for a single shipment, the Malaga provincial police HQ began an asset investigation, establishing that, within this network, there was a branch specifically dedicated to money-laundering.
The money-laundering branch was based in Melilla, led by the partners of the two main members of the organisation. They had set up a food and beverage retail company, which they used for years as a mechanism for channelling large amounts of cash from drug-trafficking. Investigators found that the company had channelled more than 1.5 million euros in cash through its bank accounts.
The money was initially used to start the company and make it grow. Once it was consolidated, it began to operate autonomously, becoming the engine of money-laundering, with money coming in from various bank accounts, in instalments and spaced out over time.
These capital movements were intermingled with the company's own activity, which concealed its illicit origin. The company made purchases from suppliers, declared its operations, paid taxes and even provided salaries to members of the scheme, all in order to give more solidity to the supposedly legal activity of the company.
The funds could therefore be disassociated from their illicit origin and were passed on to the members of the scheme as if they were of entirely legal origin.
In addition to the mechanics of laundering through the company, investigators detected individual money-laundering operations carried out by several members of the network for the acquisition of real estate and vehicles through the use of front men or trusted intermediaries, real estate purchases with undeclared or undocumented payments and financing of purchases.
Searches
Following the investigative work, eight people were arrested and eight searches were carried out in homes and establishments in Malaga and Melilla. A total of 350,000 euros in cash was seized, as well as a vehicle, mobile terminals and a computer.
In addition, asset blocks were issued for 12 properties and 13 vehicles worth 1,650,000 euros. Accounts with more than 250,000 euros have been blocked.
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