The Civil Guard, with the collaboration of the Portuguese, French and British authorities, has investigated and arrested fifty people in the framework of the 'Castle' operation, in which 4,800 kilograms of hashish and 1,962 kilograms have been seized. of cocaine.
The operation began in 2022 when the Civil Guard became aware of a criminal organization that would be based in Huelva and Campo de Gibraltar (Cádiz), with links to Portugal. This organization was responsible for most of the launchings of drug vessels that were taking place throughout Spain, according to information provided by the Armed Institute in a press release on Tuesday.
Continuing with the investigations, the agents intercepted three caches of hashish during the course of the operation, one of them near the mouth of the Guadiana River, another between Algeciras and Tarifa, and a third in the Guadalquivir River, totaling 4,800 kilograms. of hashish and four members of the organization being detained.
The agents learned about the structure of the investigated organization, discovering that its top was located in the Campo de Gibraltar, associating with another clan located in the province of Huelva. This organization launched the boats through Portugal.
For this reason, in the summer of 2022, the agents carried out 21 house searches in the towns of Moguer, Lucena del Puerto, Bonares and Niebla in the province of Huelva and San Roque, La Línea and Alcalá de los Gazules in Cádiz, arresting 19 people. Two fast boats, eight 350 CV engines, 3,750 liters of gasoline, six vehicles, as well as electronic material and abundant material for communications were seized.
As a result of these arrests, the agents were able to verify that a part of the organization would have loaded the drug to the west of the Moroccan coast to be transferred to mainland territory by means of a fast boat, and that the crew in charge of the transport, knowing that the leaders and members of the organization were being detained, they could not unload the drugs in the peninsula.
After several days at sea, the crew members of the boat contacted another organization based in the Canary Islands dedicated to cocaine trafficking so that they could support them with the stash. When the crew members were heading to a beach in the municipality of Aldea de San Nicolás de Tolentino on the island of Gran Canaria, the Civil Guard established a device where they located the boat, a semi-rigid with three 375 CV motors, and a abandoned van finding inside 1,962 kilograms of cocaine.
For this reason, the agents proceeded to dismantle the organization located in the Canary Islands, making four entries and searches in the towns of Telde and the Aldea de San Nicolás and arresting five more members.
The hashish-trafficking organizations have established "strong links" with cocaine-trafficking organizations. These organizations use the African route in both directions: the hashish would leave Morocco in the direction of America and in the opposite direction the cocaine would travel across the Atlantic landing on the West Coast of Africa, to later transport it to the peninsula.
The 'Castle' operation has been carried out by the Regional Center for Analysis and Intelligence against drug trafficking together with the Canary Islands Organized Crime Team of the Central Operating Unit, the Commands of Seville, Huelva and Las Palmas, all coordinated by Europol UROPOL with the Portuguese, French and British authorities.
