A joint operation by the National Police, the Polícia Judiciária de Portugal and EUROPOL made it possible to dismantle the criminal organization of those whom the police call “narcos of the sky”, because they were at the origin of the project to introduce tons of cocaine in Europe by air through the use of private planes, using financing from Chinese businessmen.
The operation allowed the arrest of 25 people, 19 in Spain and six in Portugal, as reported by the National Police in a press release in which it reports on the investigation carried out in Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao, Cuenca and Plasencia (Cáceres). It was decreed admission to temporary prison without bail for 16 of them.
The organization, according to the police “highly specialized in the introduction of caches of cocaine into Europe”, used chartered private planes and its members had numerous contacts for sending and receiving cocaine shipments.
The criminal network transformed itself into a source of financing for businessmen of Chinese origin – known as “hawalers” – who had sufficient economic capacity and a structure operating around the world to carry out credit offsets outside the legal financial system.
At the end of the investigation, which lasted 15 months, 460 kilos of cocaine were seizeda short weapon, more than 500,000 euros in cash, 18 vehicles and 45 mobile terminals, most of them encrypted. Eight properties valued at more than 1,650,000 euros and 80 bank accounts with a balance of 660,000 euros were also blocked.
Search for financing by shipping suitcases and containers
The first investigations, opened in June 2023 jointly between the national police and the American DEA, focused on the activities of a Colombian citizen residing in Madrid who allegedly led a large criminal organization dedicated to the importation of large quantities of cocaine.
In the initial phase, the research focused in a cafeteria located in La Moraleja (Madrid). It was in this place frequented by the people interviewed and which they themselves called “the office” that most of the meetings of the members of the organization were held.
After several months, agents confirmed that the organization had access to several European airports as an entry point for cocaine shipments, one of them being in the Portuguese city of Beja. There, the network had a large structure, which is why its members made numerous trips to Portugal.
In January, officers learned that the organization had launchedor your first chartered plane from Barranquilla (Colombia) at Beja airport (Portugal), on board which were several of its members as well as pilots hired for this purpose.
However, and despite the extensive system put in place, the efforts of the police confirmed that the said plane could not have been loaded with cocaine in Barranquilla, which resulted in economic losses for the organization exceeding 500,000 euros.
So they turned to small operations this did not require large financial expenses, and they began to send suitcases containing cocaine from different countries at Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport.
However, the shipments were detected by agents who intercepted four in September 2023 (with 16.5 kilos of cocaine), March 2024 (31 kilos of cocaine), April 2024 (60 kilos of cocaine) and September 2024 (20 kilos of narcotic). ).
Likewise, last May, the organization sent a container of Peruvian lawyers at 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 surveyed They made a second attempt to transport the drugs on a private plane. After obtaining financing from several Mexican external investors, they chartered a private plane from Johannesburg (South Africa) to the Dominican Republic, where the narcotic was to be loaded, and finally headed to the United Kingdom. As with the first attempt, logistical problems prevented the cocaine from being loaded.
These setbacks forced respondents to seek new sources of funding. Among them, the use of establishments operating with cryptocurrencies to convert cash into legal tender.
Likewise, they used places to send funds and, as a main source, contacts with businessmen of Chinese origin who had economic capabilities. Among the contacts of Chinese origin investigated, agents identified one of EUROPOL’s high-value targetswho 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.
