Agents of the National Police have dismantled the criminal organization “narcos del cielo” that intended to bring tons of cocaine into Europe by air. The operation, carried out jointly with the Portuguese Judiciary Police and EUROPOL, has resulted in the arrest of 25 people: 19 in Spain and 6 in Portugal.
The organization, highly specialized in the introduction of cocaine shipments into Europe, used chartered private planes and its members had numerous contacts for sending and receiving cocaine shipments.
The criminal network used as a source of financing Chinese businessmenknown as ‘hawalers’, who had sufficient economic capacity and a structure that operated worldwide to carry out credit compensation outside the legal financial system.
As a result of the investigation, interventions have been made 460 kilos of cocainea short weaponmore than 500,000 euros in cash, 18 vehicles and 45 mobile terminals, most of them encrypted; 8 properties valued at more than 1,650,000 euros and 80 bank accounts with a balance of 660,000 euros have also been blocked.
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 cocaine.
In the initial phase, the research focused on a cafeteria located in The Moral (Madrid). In this one, 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.
From that moment on, police efforts made it possible to begin identifying the members of the network – many of them residing abroad – as well as knowing the role played by each of them and detecting the illicit projects that were being developed.
High specialization
As the investigation progressed, the agents established that it was a criminal organization highly specialized in the introduction of cocaine stashes in Europe, whose members had numerous contacts for the shipment of the narcotic from different points in South America and for its reception in different European cities.
To transport drugs they used private planes chartered by private companies, which gave the illicit activity a legal appearance. On the other hand, the investigations confirmed that all the members of the network had made international cocaine trafficking his only means of lifewithout carrying out any legal work activity and which, in addition, allowed them to maintain a high standard of living.
After several months, agents confirmed that the organization had access to several European airports as entry point of cocaine shipments, one of them being found in the Portuguese town of Beja. There the network had a large structure, which is why its members made numerous trips to Portugal.
Last January, the National Police and the Judicial Police of Portugal carried out a joint operation that allowed the identification of a corrupt officials plot which operated, under the direction of a Portuguese citizen, at the Beja commercial airport.
On those dates, the 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. However, and 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 for the organization that exceeded 500,000 euros.
Suitcases and containers with cocaine to Madrid
Those investigated continued with their project of sending almost two tons of cocaine by private plane to Europe although, in order to recover financially and pay for the operation, as well as to maintain their standard of living, they changed their modus operandi. They 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, the shipments were detected by agents who intercepted four of them in September 2023 (with 16.5 kilos of cocaine), March 2024 (31 kilos of cocaine), April 2024 (60 kilos of cocaine) and September of 2024 (20 kilos of narcotic).
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 structure, although 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 United Kingdom. As in the first attempt, logistical problems prevented loading the cocaine.
Financed thanks to the ‘hawalers’
The setbacks suffered forced those investigated to look for new sources of financing that would allow them to cover their day-to-day expenses, as well as the payment of the narcotic substance and other logistical expenses.
As a result of the police efforts carried out, the agents detected several means with which they provided coverage to the organization’s logistical and financial apparatus. Among them, they accredited the use of establishments that operate with cryptocurrencies for the conversion of cash resulting from drug trafficking operations into legal currency.
Likewise, they showed that they resorted to places to send money remittances and, as the main source, contact with businessmen of Chinese origin who had sufficient economic capacity and a structure that operated worldwide to carry out credit compensation outside the legal financial system (system called Hawala).
Among the contacts of Chinese origin investigated, the agents identified one of EUROPOL’s high-value targets, which has supported the investigation in the analysis of the financial information obtained as well as in the traceability of the economic flow of the criminal organization.
Framed in Spain and Portugal
After 15 months of investigation, the exploitation of the operation was carried out in the middle of last October. In Spain, agents carried out 14 house searches and arrested 19 people in Madrid, Alicante, Seville, Cuenca and Cáceres -declaring the entry into provisional prison without bail for 16 of them-. Likewise, six other International Arrest Orders (OID) were issued on targets located outside the national territory.
To achieve the complete dismantling of the criminal organization, a coordinated deployment was carried out by the National Police in which agents from Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao, Cuenca and Plasencia (Cáceres) participated.
Furthermore, as a result of cooperation with the Portuguese Judicial Police, at the end of October the Portuguese authorities carried out several searches and arrested six other people in the Portuguese country. Several firearms, ammunition, high-end vehicles and 15,000 euros in cash were seized there.
The operation ended with 25 detainees and the seizure of 460 kilos of cocaine, more than 500,000 euros in cash, 18 vehicles and 45 mobile terminals, most of them encrypted; 8 properties valued at more than 1,650,000 euros and 80 bank accounts with a balance of 660,000 euros have also been blocked.
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