Ten fake international companies dedicated to laundering proceeds from drug trafficking and high-end vehicles dismantled

The Civil Guard has arrested nine members of an international criminal organization dedicated to money laundering from drug trafficking and illicit vehicle trafficking.

The criminal plot had a corporate network of at least 10 companies in which it mixed instrumental companies, some of them located in the United Kingdom and Belgium, along with companies with apparent real activity, which made asset investigation difficult.

The business structure was used to launder money from drug trafficking. They used front men, false invoicing, transfers of amounts lower than those subject to supervision, frequent changes of administrators in the companies, irregular real estate transactions, payment for goods and services with accounts located abroad.

The detainees operated in Bizkaia, Cantabria, Segovia and Madrid, and had a coordinated distribution of tasks. The management echelon directly supervised the commercial structure designed to launder money, the lower echelons distributed the narcotic substance and were in charge of illicit vehicle trafficking in all its aspects: theft, modification of frames, documentation and transportation.

The Civil Guard has carried out 12 searches in the provinces of Bizkaia, Cantabria and Segovia, where they have found 13,700 euros, 37 mobile phones, a multitude of vacuum packaging machines, two cannabis sativa plantations, drugs, stolen license plates and two short weapons. with ammunition.

In addition, 14 high-end cars stolen and modified to be introduced with a legal appearance on the market have been seized. The agents have also blocked 30 checking accounts. Two of the vehicles used by the criminal organization had sophisticated double bottoms for transporting narcotics.

The criminal group is accused of crimes against public health, money laundering, fraud, revelation of secrets, robbery with force, reception, misappropriation, falsification of documents, fraud of electrical fluid, crimes against social security, illicit possession of weapons and criminal organization.

The organization used encrypted messaging for its communications to make it difficult for police forces to intercept it, and they frequently changed mobile terminals.

The operation carried out by the Organic Unit of the Judicial Police of Bizkaia together with the Territorial Team of Castro Urdiales (Cantabria) has had the support of Europol.