Authorities Bust Sinaloa Cartel Network in Spain

"Socalj" for Borderland Beat

More than 200 agents participated in the police operation which resulted in the arrest of 24 people for operating a marijuana and cocaine trafficking satellite base across Spain and into Europe.

In the operation, around a thousand kilos of marijuana and 37 kilos of cocaine, three submachine guns, and several pistols were seized. Several luxury goods such as jewelry, homes and cars with an estimated value of 6 million Euros, and 105,116 Euros in cash were also seized and 20 bank accounts were blocked, as well as two laboratories for the processing and distribution of merchandise were dismantled.

During the course of the investigations, it was established that the Sinaloa emissaries were linked to the criminal group that introduced more than 10 million Euros in cash and investment gold to settle in the country.

It has not been specified to which specific branch of the Sinaloa cartel the criminal operators belonged, but reports assure that the 24 detainees are linked to the Mexican transnational crime group. His traces are distinguished by the sumptuousness seized in narco-laboratories, smart greenhouses, and opulent houses in the provinces of Madrid, Guadalajara, and Malaga.

With an extension through Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, and Colombia, the organization maintained a network for money laundering that was also identified. All as a result of investigations that began at the end of 2020 when the arrival of several people of Mexican nationality from the state of Sinaloa to the Iberian country was detected.

According to the same National Police, the activities of these subjects caught the attention of the authorities because they immediately settled in luxury residences and were later observed working in drug plantations located in the provinces of Guadalajara and Madrid.

The purchase of high-cost homes, as well as luxury goods, caught the attention of the authorities. 

On the other hand, the investigation has proven an overwhelming movement of capital. They constantly changed homes (all of them luxury) and dedicated themselves to the sale of jewelry and sports vehicles whose prices exceeded 500,000 euros. This was due to the laundering of the profits they illicitly obtained and, furthermore, it was a security measure to avoid being located in a specific area.

In the middle of last May, the agents carried out a police device in which more than 200 troops participated. The operation allowed the complete dismantling of the organization and the arrest of those responsible, locating a cocaine laboratory in the process of manufacturing more than 37 kilos of substance at the home of the leader of the network. During the operation, there was also the collaboration of the Local Police of the Madrid town of Algete.

Likewise, they carried out 13 records in different locations in Madrid (8) and Guadalajara (5), and eight inspections in the provinces of Madrid (5) and Malaga (3).

The family began to acquire businesses and companies with the aim of laundering money from drug trafficking, in addition to extending their influence by bribing officials to facilitate their stay in the territory and documentation for companies.

"After several police efforts, it became clear that the family clan was related to people, both Spanish and foreign, with records and convictions linked to the sale of narcotic substances, in a way that facilitated their entry into a new market that was not theirs,” read the official report.

While marijuana plantations and extraction were the primary business, cocaine laboratories were also opened.

During the course of the investigation, the agents detected the arrival in our country of people from South America, whom the organization used as "mules" to introduce cocaine base in brown packages. The drug was processed, packaged, and silk-screened in two laboratories in the province of Madrid to later sell it to people who came from Croatia and the Netherlands with whom they had previously closed deals. In addition, they also had other distribution networks through Chinese citizens and other vendors, located in different locations in Madrid, who even introduced the narcotic substance into prisons.

Marijuana was the base of the illicit business (cocaine to a lesser extent). The production and trafficking of drugs had cannabis as their main product, so they had several plantations. Among the police investigations, the activities of the criminals were intervened on more than one occasion with some 60 tons seized, which, in turn, forced the organization to improve and be more effective in its work.

“They invested in new cultivation systems based on the creation of containers with intelligent software that would allow them to obtain harvests in less than three months. Some of the Mexican members of the criminal group tried to acquire this business for a significant sum of money, although the police actions thwarted it,” the authorities stated.

Sources Infobae, Policia Nacional m Interior Spain