The Mossos d’Esquadra dismantled on November 26 a criminal group of Chinese nationality rooted in Catalonia with the ability to whiten weekly 1 million euros from drug trafficking.
This was explained in a press conference this Thursday by the deputy head of the Central Criminal Investigation Division of the Catalan police, inspector Jonathan Herreraand the head of Economic Crimes, the sub-inspector José Ángel Merino.
Herrera has stated that this case is “the most important investigated in Catalonia related with financial structures that facilitate the action of organized crime in Catalan territory”, in which more than 500 police officers have participated.
The investigation began in early 2022, when agents related different linked investigations with “important cash interventions” in Catalonia, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands, whose link was citizens of Asian origin.
This plot operated especially in a commercial area of Badalona (Barcelona), in shops, premises and commercial warehouses run by citizens of Chinese nationality.
The members of the criminal group used 3 methods to launder money: they used several branches or clandestine banks and charged between 3 and 5% commission for the service; They laundered through the conventional banking system, with companies that charged a commission to perform the service, or moved the money “absolutely hidden in hiding places” in vehicles.
The vehicles they used to move the money They had a complete monitoring system with cameras to have “exhaustive control of what was happening inside the vehicle” and could detect movements.
Furthermore, they have explained that the same criminal group had branches of Lithuanian or Albanian originand the members of Chinese nationality were in charge of receiving the money in cash or cryptocurrencies and delivering it to the other factions.
The criminal group had several homes and premises where trusted people from other criminal groups, They came when they wanted to move large amounts of money outside the state.
One of the main investigators of the Asian group was linked to cryptocurrency movements worth 30 million euros since 2021.
Once the activity and roles of those investigated have been accredited, on November 26 They planned the exploitation of the devicecoordinated by the Investigative Court 4 of Badalona (Barcelona), and culminated in the arrest of 25 people – 17 men and 8 women between 25 and 40 years old -, 7 of them went to prison.
There are also about 20 people under investigation, and The agents requested precautionary property measures for 11 properties; They blocked dozens of bank accounts and seized 12 vehicles, 4 of them with hiding places for the money.
In addition, entries were made in 30 homes: 27 in Catalonia, 1 in Malaga and 2 in Castellón, and Nearly 4 million euros in cash were seized; almost 300 kilos of marijuana; 4 firearms, luxury jewelry and watches; vehicle tracking and monitoring devices; a hydraulic press to manufacture 2 euro coins, as well as documents “useful for research”.
The agents also seized a safe deposit box managed by a private company in Barcelona that It contained more than 40,000 euros.
“The hydraulic press determined that they were beginning to counterfeit the currency. They already had the machinery, the specific material so that it had a legal appearance and they were putting money into expanding the business,” Herrera said.
Despite this case, it has sent a message that not all local and commercial ships run by Chinese They are dedicated to money laundering, and he has assured that the new technologies used to carry out this crime have “forced” the Mossos to adapt.
For his part, Merino has described the investigation as “very complex and very difficult”, because they used communication channels unconventional such as military encryption systems and laundered money and cryptocurrencies.
“Money laundering is one of the crimes for which we almost never receive complaints. It is often in the shadows, but everyone knows that they tend to achieve economic power that allow them capital that they manage to reintegrate into the system for their own benefit, with high-end vehicles, for example, that facilitate their criminal action,” Herrera said.
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