Malaga Police dismantle family gang investigated for illegal distribution of audiovisual content

National Police officers have dismantled a criminal organisation based in Malaga and Jaén involved in the illegal distribution of audiovisual content, money laundering and the sale of hacked decoders to access paid TV services. A total of nine people have been arrested and six searches of different properties and warehouses have been carried out in both of the Andalusian provinces.

According to sources, the criminal organisation was actually a clan of business owners, who had already operated illicitly in the audiovisual sector. Their income, exceeding five million euros, was generated through access and provision of paid audiovisual content to users. To not raise suspicions, the gang created a network of large bank movements and laundered money though the acquisition of numerous movable and inmovable assets, worth more than 3,252,000 euros.

The investigation began in December 2023, when the National Police received a complaint from the association for protection of the rights of audiovisual producers (Egeda), which reported the unauthorised commercialisation of certain services through a website.

The organisation had designed a business network, which they used to carry out a large number of banking transactions and payments made by the thousands of users for accessing and providing illegal television and audiovisual content.

The gang sold hacked decoders and administration panels that gave access to card-sharing servers, which they provided to customers across the country. They also gave them precise instructions on how to modify the decoders to access TV and audiovisual content illegally. To carry out their activities, they used five different companies.

During the operation, investigators analysed more than 60 bank accounts, with profits from illegal payments.