They laundered money from scams and drug trafficking. For them, they had formed a network with a betting house in which they put into circulation more than 2.5 million euros. The size of the financial conglomerate highlights the participation of 65 people in the role of bank mule and the opening of 260 fraudulent checking accounts. The operation resulted in the detention of 43 people, including the leaders of the organization, the majority of Bulgarian origin.
In addition, 112 kilograms of marijuana buds prepared for distribution in Ireland, Germany and Poland were seized, as well as 4,792 bottles of nitrous oxide from Bulgaria. According to the facts, he knows the Court of Instruction 6 of Malaga, Six of those questioned were placed in pre-trial detention.
Group II of Narcotics, Group II of Money Laundering and Group I of Economic Crimes of the Provincial Police Station of Málaga with agents of the Operational Judicial Police Group of the Police Station of Antequera, detected a banking network to be laundered illicit money coming from both telematics scams, marijuana trafficking and the marketing of nitrous oxide.
The scams covered various modalities, such as the sale and purchase of clothing on second-hand platforms on the Internet, fake housing rentals or fraudulent calls in the event of supposed power outages, among others. have been identified 41 victimsthe amount of the fraud being approximately 39,000 euros.
Continuing their investigations, the agents confirmed that the network had been set up by opening accounts in banks and online betting houses, in the name of third parties. These were recruited from marginal environments and obtained 40 euros profit to open an account.
Bank accounts were used and controlled directly by the masterminds of the organization, channeling income from illicit activities and allowing the money introduced to flow quickly from one bank account to another. The objective was to reinvest in houses sports betting and injected into accounts abroad, notably in Bulgaria, where 267,718 euros were sent.
At the same time, the investigation made it possible to prove that trafficking in narcotic substances was another modus operandi followed by the suspects, intervening 112 kilograms of buds of marijuana ready for distribution in Ireland, Germany and Poland. The arrests took place in three different periods.
First of all 34 kilos of marijuana camouflaged in boxes containing electrical equipment then three shipments with 13,000 kilos of laughing gas. Likewise, the National Police verified that the organization would have a third line of business based on the importation from Bulgaria of huge batches of nitrous oxide, known as laughing gas, for subsequent retail distribution in Spain.
284 accounts blocked
In this sense, investigators confirmed the importation of three shipments of nitrous oxide and intercepted one, specifically 4,792 bottles of laughing gas. The three accredited shipments would total 13,000 kilograms of this substance, a fashionable drug in Europe, cheap and popular with young people, but whose consumption can lead to serious health consequences.
Finally, regarding the economic and real estate investigation, it was revealed that the members of the network In most cases, they did not have legal sources sufficient income for their livelihood, establishing their modus vivendi in drug trafficking and scams.
Furthermore, in the case of the main defendants, the investigation revealed various operations constituting money laundering in the context of the acquisition of real estate. In this sense, a series of preventive legal measures have been taken, which prohibit the transfer and sale of two homes and several storage rooms and parking lots of the main object of the investigation, as well as the blocking of 284 bank accounts and 210 other gambling accounts opened in a betting house.
