A joint operation of the National Police and the Polícia Judiciária of Portugal and Europol has allowed the criminal organization to be dismantled of those known to the police as “narcos from heaven.” This group was dedicated to bringing tons of cocaine into Europe by air using private planes, using financing from Chinese businessmen.
The operation has allowed the arrest of 25 people19 in Spain and six in Portugal, as reported by the National Police in a press release in which it reported on the investigation carried out in Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao, Cuenca and Plasencia (Cáceres). As a consequence, it has been decreed entry into provisional prison no bail for 16 of them.
The organization, according to the Police “highly specialized in the introduction of cocaine caches into Europe”, used private planes chartered parties and their members had numerous contacts for sending and receiving cocaine shipments.
The criminal network turned to businessmen of Chinese origin – known as hawalers-, which had sufficient economic capacity and a structure that operated worldwide to carry out credit compensation outside the financial system legal.
As a result of the investigation 460 kilos of cocaine have been seizeda short weapon, more than 500,000 euros in cash, 18 vehicles and 45 mobile terminals, most of them encrypted. Eight properties valued at more than 1,650,000 euros and 80 bank accounts with a balance of 660,000 euros have also been blocked.
A Colombian and a cafeteria
The first investigations, initiated in June 2023 jointly between the National Police and the US DEA, focused on the activities of a Colombian citizen residing in Madrid who, allegedly, led an important criminal organization dedicated to the importation of large quantities of this narcotic substance.
In the initial phase, the research focused on a cafeteria located in La Moraleja (Madrid). In this, frequented by those investigated and which they themselves referred to as “the office”, most of the meetings of the members of the organization were held.
After several months, agents confirmed that the network had access to several European airports as an entry point for cocaine shipments, one of them being in the Portuguese town of Beja. There, the framework had a large structurewhich is why its members made numerous trips to Portugal.
In January, agents learned that the organization had launched its first chartered plane from Barranquilla (Colombia) to the Beja Airport (Portugal), on board which were several of its members, as well as pilots hired for this purpose.
Despite the extensive device established, police efforts confirmed that said plane had not been able to be loaded with cocaine in Barranquilla, which led to economic losses to the organization which exceeded 500,000 euros.
They then resorted to smaller operations that did not require a large financial outlay, and began to send suitcases with cocaine from different countries to the Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport.
However, shipments were detected by the agentswhich intercepted four of them in September 2023 (with 16.5 kilos of cocaine), March 2024 (31 kilos), April 2024 (60 kilos) and September 2024 (20 kilos).
Likewise, last May the organization sent a container of avocados from Peru to the Port of Barcelona. On this occasion it contained 344 kilos of cocaine hidden in the floor of the structurealthough the agents intercepted it before it reached the members of the network.
In June 2024, those investigated made a second attempt to transport the drugs on a private plane. After obtaining financing through several external investors from Mexico, they chartered a private aircraft from Johannesburg (South Africa) to the Dominican Republic, where the narcotic was to be loaded, to finally head to the United Kingdom. As in the first attempt, the logistical problems They prevented the cocaine from being loaded.
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