Three national police officers caught bluefin tuna and then sold it as contraband to restaurants and a wholesaler. They were helped by the brother of one of them and, on some occasions, by a trainee officer at the Marbella Police Station. The group was two cells with two boats, two transports and several clients, including a wholesale distributor, who admitted that he paid them 10 euros per kilo of tuna that the agents brought him “for doing a favor.” In addition, several restaurants in Marbella. They bought the tuna from the police at a lower cost than the market price, thus increasing the profitability of the dishes. The Civil Guard, under the direction of the Malaga Environmental Prosecutor’s Office, has carried out the “Galete” operation. There are eight people investigated for the alleged commission of crimes against wildlife, against public health, related to the market and consumers, and membership in a criminal organization. At the top this group of agents. These individuals operated in the waters of Malaga capital, subsequently introducing tuna catches into the market with fraudulent documentation. Fishermen and professionals in the fishing sector informed the Civil Guard that several perfectly organized individuals were carrying out poaching on a continuous basis, which was expressly prohibited because it was in the closed season. In the summary, to which ABC has had access, it is outlined how the agents boasted to the fishermen of the port about the profits from their activity and how they set catch quotas of up to 50 tuna for last 2024. They did not arrive when they were detained during the summer. During the investigation, poaching of 16 specimens of bluefin tuna was detected, whose approximate weights ranged from 70 kilos to more than 250 kilograms per specimen. Based on the price reported by the distributor, it is believed that the 1,300 kilos of tuna they placed in this company earned 13,500 euros. Unloading one of the poached tuna ABC They were not discreet or shy when it came to talking about the illicit business. In fact, at the moment when two of them are intercepted by the Seprona of the Civil Guard leaving the port with four tuna in the van, they take out their National Police credentials. One of them, to whom the agent carrying out the inspection attributes leadership, assures: “We are national police, what a mess you are going to get us into.” They didn’t stop there, because when the agent informed them that their cell phones were going to be confiscated, the same arrestee told them: “Can’t we fix this?” Because otherwise you are going to seek ruin for us. At this moment, the two agents requested to speak privately with the head of the operation of the device to tell him that they were national police officers and to ask him how the action could be carried out so that it was as least harmful as possible to their interests as agents. They also asked him not to report to his superiors. Likewise, and spontaneously, they admit that they have been fishing for three years, but that the first year they did not catch any tuna because they did not know, that the second year they only caught two or three and that they sold them to “cover expenses.” They acknowledged that in 2024 they had “a few”, without specifying the number. Fishing lines and equipment for fishing ABC tuna. In the investigation, the Seprona agents of the Civil Guard have had the collaboration of the Public Health Commission of the Official College of Veterinarians of Malaga , the Food Health Services of the Malaga City Council, the Aula del Mar Foundation of Malaga and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The technicians They have provided various expert reports to support the alleged crimes. The facts are being investigated by the Investigative Court 3 of Marbella. The seized pieces have been certified for their “serious and imminent risk to public health” due to the “terrible” health conditions of the vehicles used for their transport and the poor hygienic-sanitary conditions of some of the seized tunas.
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