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Friday, 7 February 2025, 11:15
National Police officers have arrested 13 people from the same family as alleged perpetrators of the crimes of drug trafficking, money laundering, membership of a criminal organisation and illegal possession of weapons.
The criminal organisation used two warehouses, one of them for storage and reception of the drugs, and the other for their preparation for subsequent distribution, the police said in a statement. The detainees were handed over to the courts in Malaga, which ordered seven of them to be sent to prison.
In the extensive operation, investigators carried out a total of 12 searches in different parts of the province of Malaga in which they seized 124 packets of cocaine, weighing 135 kilogrammes, six weapons, 20 mobile phones and 176,175 euros in cash. They have also frozen 11 bank accounts, and seized six properties valued at more than 600,000 euros and 43 vehicles valued at half a million euros.
The operation, carried out by the narcotics unit Udyco-Costa del Sol (group 1 and 4) and the asset investigations and tracing group (IPLA) of the Malaga provincial police station, began in July 2024. Officers became aware that a group of people belonging to a criminal network were dealing in narcotic substances in a warehouse dedicated to renting vehicles.
In view of the seriousness of the crimes, and with the main aim of dismantling this network, surveillance of the property was intensified. All members of the clan were identified and the police verified that unusual movements were taking place that pointed to possible exchanges of narcotic substances or money. According to the National Police, these events always occurred outside business hours and during weekends, "which reinforced the hypothesis that they were related to drug trafficking".
Additionally, the police endeavoured to uncover the assets of the clan leaders, which they may have obtained through activities related to drug trafficking, as well as to detect possible money laundering operations.
The investigation and the measures authorised by the judicial authority made it possible to identify the alleged members of the organisation, each with a specific role within it, as well as its supposed leader, "who turned out to be the top figure of a well-known clan dedicated to drug trafficking, specifically cocaine".
Likewise, it was possible to detect another nearby warehouse that was used as a 'safe house'. As a result of the investigations, the modus operandi of the organisation was determined, which consisted of periodically receiving a huge shipment of drugs that were stored in this building. From there, smaller quantities were taken out and delivered to the organisation's distributors and clients.
During one of the surveillance operations, the officers observed some suspicious movements and decided to to arrest three individuals as they were preparing to remove the narcotic substance from the warehouse to transport it to the safe house. A total of 124 packages of cocaine were seized on board a vehicle, hidden in sports bags. The packages weighed approximately one kilo each.
At the same time, a large police operation was deployed to locate and arrest all those allegedly involved, an operation which culminated in the arrests of ten Spaniards and three foreigners.
The National Police said, “This operation has led to the complete dismantling of a complex criminal organisation linked to a well-known clan, from the upper echelon, where the leader of the group - who also had several active judicial warrants - was positioned, down to the lower level, where the retail distributors of the narcotic substance were located.”
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