MADRID, 20 (SERVIMEDIA)
The Civil Guard has seized 4.5 tons of hashish and operational weapons of war in El Garraf (Barcelona) as part of an active operation since 2019 to dismantle a “complex” criminal organization dedicated to large-scale hashish trafficking and receipt of devices. previously stolen electronic devices.
As reported this Wednesday by the Civil Guard, in the operation, known as 'Rescatada', a total of 50 people were arrested over the years, among whom is a Local Police trainee, for the alleged commission of the crimes of drug trafficking, membership in a criminal organization, reception and money laundering.
In the total count of the operation, 5.7 tons of hashish were seized, 325,000 euros in cash and 275,000 euros deposited in bank accounts associated with the organization. Two weapons of war, three short firearms and eight medium-high range vehicles have also been seized.
The agents of the Organic Unit of the Judicial Police of the Civil Guard of Barcelona began the investigation in May 2019 on the occasion of a police intervention in which 510 kilos of hashish that were transported in a vehicle that was traveling through the AP were seized. 7 as it passes through Valencia.
This seizure would lead to other investigations that, maintaining the trail of a macro criminal organization based in Catalonia, would give rise to successive interventions and would culminate with the “stash” recently intercepted on the coast of El Garraf.
Between the months of March and May 2022, in the Barcelona town of Mataró, the Civil Guard deployed different operations in which several entries and searches were carried out that led to the seizure of almost 210 kilos of hashish, the arrest of ten individuals and the recovery of almost 300 electronic devices (mobile phones, laptops and tablets) that had been stolen, mainly in Catalonia, from foreign citizens. So far about half of these have been returned to their rightful owners.
In June of the same year, this time in the Girona town of Figueres, another police action was carried out against this organization, which led to the seizure of €240,000 in cash and 270 kilograms of hashish. Two months later, in August, two more people would be arrested in operations carried out in Vallirana (Barcelona) and Tarragona, seizing nearly 30,000 euros in cash, cocaine and hashish.
In October, one of the members of the organization based in Vilafranca del Penedés (Barcelona), was arrested in the province of Alicante when he was heading to Barcelona on the A-7 transporting 140 kilograms of hashish.
Related to the previous intervention, another group linked to the organization was dismantled in the town of Vilafranca del Penedés, which culminated in the arrest of 14 people, of whom 13 were placed in provisional prison without bail. In this device, nearly 50 more kilos of hashish, 400 grams of cocaine and 51,000 euros were seized.
MILITARY PREPARATION
As a culmination of the strategy against the introduction of hashish through the Catalan coast, in a complex operation carried out on August 30, two trucks with 4.5 tons of hashish were intercepted when the stash had been carried out in the Barcelona coast of El Garraf.
During this police operation, 17 people were arrested and two weapons of war and three short firearms were seized. This highlighted the importance of dismantling this criminal organization, not only due to its criminal scope and the amount of drugs they handled, but also due to the weapons they had and their military preparation to face any threat, including the police.
Finally, a total of 50 people have been arrested and two of Moroccan and Spanish nationalities have been investigated for the alleged commission of the crimes of drug trafficking, membership in a criminal organization, illicit possession of weapons, and money laundering; About thirty of those arrested have been imprisoned.
The relevance of this investigation lies in the intervention of 5.7 tons of hashish, which in turn contains the largest cache seized on the Catalan coast with 4.5 tons. Furthermore, the dangerousness of this type of criminal organizations is ratified, as for the custody of the narcotic drug they were armed with two weapons of war and three short firearms with ammunition, within reach and ready to be used.
325,000 euros in cash were seized from the criminal organization, bank accounts worth 275,000 euros have been blocked and eight vehicles were seized. Another branch of the same organization was also dedicated to the theft and receipt of electronic devices destined for a country on the African continent, of which 297 could be recovered and 120 of them returned to their legitimate owners.
(SERVIMEDIA)20-SEP-2023 12:00 PM (GMT 2)JSR/gja
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