The drug trafficking organization that has been 'decapitated' in the Civil Guard's Corraliza Operation had its "main plot" in Lanzarote. In fact, 8 of the 10 detainees were arrested on the island, and 8 of the 9 house searches carried out by the agents were also carried out in Lanzarote, and 30,000 euros in cash were seized, supposedly from illicit operations. This has been confirmed to La Voz by the Benemérita, which highlights the "violence" and "organization" of the gang. The kidnapping and mistreatment by one of the ringleaders of a member of the gang who supposedly "stole" 800 kilos of hashish also happened in Lanzarote.
Of those arrested in Lanzarote, a total of 7 are already in provisional prison, in the Tahíche prison. According to the Civil Guard, these are the "main ringleaders". They have also indicated that the "majority" of them are originally from Lanzarote and that they all have police records.
The police force has explained that this criminal organization had been operating for at least two years, both in Lanzarote and in the archipelago. For its part, the Civil Guard began to follow in their footsteps in March 2015. It began with "intelligence" work, continued with "surveillance" and in mid-January, already in 2016, "exploited" this operation, which they have named Corraliza, and carried out the searches and arrests.
The drug was distributed from Lanzarote to the rest of the islands
This gang was dedicated to the introduction and distribution of narcotic substances in the Canary Islands, and, for this, its center of operations was Lanzarote. According to the Civil Guard, the drug arrived on the island from Morocco, using "high-cylinder pneumatic boats". From here, the distribution was made to the rest of the islands. For this, industrial vehicles were used, such as the delivery truck that appears in the images, or even rental cars. In all cases, they used double bottoms in which the drug was hidden.
To hide their criminal activity, this criminal gang "laundered" money through "well-known" franchises in the hospitality world, both in Lanzarote and in Tenerife. In the case of Lanzarote, they used a fast food franchise that opened its first branch on the island a few months ago.
"Violence" and "counter-surveillance" of the Civil Guard
Regarding the operation of this gang, the Benemérita emphasizes that they were "violent" and "very organized". Regarding this violence, when reporting on this operation, the Civil Guard has already explained that the "ringleader" came to "kidnap" and "mistreat" one of the members of the gang, who would have appropriated 800 kilos of hashish, in order to recover them. As confirmed by the police force to La Voz, this episode also took place in Lanzarote. In its statement, the Civil Guard stressed that the operation "exploded" because it was known that this "boss" intended to "kidnap and torture" this person again, in order to "recover all the missing drugs".
Regarding the organization of the gang, its members even had their own "counter-surveillance" devices. The gang was aware that the Civil Guard was following in their footsteps, so, as confirmed by the body itself, the detainees also came to "follow" the agents and monitor their movements. "In addition, they took preventive measures," they add. With all this, they tried to plan the arrivals of the shipments and their distribution so that they would not be discovered. From the Benemérita they recognize that these counter-surveillance and prevention measures of the gang came to "hinder" the operation and emphasize that the detainees had a "spectacular knowledge" of the island.
The investigation of this Corraliza operation has been directed by the Investigating Court Number two of Arrecife. In addition to the 8 arrests in Lanzarote, there were another 2 in Tenerife. Agents of the Organized Crime Team (E.C.O.) of the Central Operational Unit of the Civil Guard based in the Canary Islands carried out the operation, supported by units of this body in Lanzarote.
