The Civil Guard, in the course of Operation Daltones, carried out in the provinces of Las Palmas (Lanzarote and Gran Canaria) and Seville, has dismantled two criminal organizations specialized in the introduction and distribution of narcotic substances worldwide and has seized 180 kilos of cocaine.
13 people have been arrested, seven of them on the island of Lanzarote, of Spanish and Colombian nationalities, who are charged with the crimes of drug trafficking, membership of a criminal organization and money laundering. The operation was carried out in different phases and with coordinated actions in the various geographical areas of the Spanish territory. The detainees in Lanzarote respond to the initials P.F.C.L., E.V.G.R., E.C.A., J.A.L.L., J.J.F.M., C.P.V.G., and D.S.H.
In a first phase, it was possible to identify the main people responsible for a drug trafficking network, who, at the end of November 2016, had managed to introduce a sailboat from South America with a large quantity of cocaine to the island of Lanzarote.
After identifying and locating all those responsible for this shipment, as well as the role that each of them played, the Civil Guard was able to verify that the organization had two nerve centers, one in Venezuela, from where the narcotics came; and the other on the Island of Lanzarote, from where the heads of the organization gave instructions to the rest of those involved on how to hide the merchandise, distribute it, collect the money from its sale and, finally, send the money using "mules", who by air made it reach other members of the network residing in Seville.
Nightlife businesses as a cover
In a second phase, it was verified that those responsible for the importation and transport of cocaine intended to sell a large quantity of this substance to another criminal organization, located on the Island of Lanzarote, which led to the identification of another perfectly organized group that used their nightlife businesses to mask their criminal activity, making it practically undetectable.
On April 2, the investigators verified how several of the people under investigation organized an electronic music party in a well-known Arrecife leisure venue, specifically the Living. During the course of the party, taking advantage of the influx of public and vehicles to the event, the criminal organizations carried out an exchange of cocaine, introducing it into the venue where the party was taking place.
Therefore, on April 3, the Living nightclub was searched, where agents seized 170 kilos of cocaine. After the seizure of the drugs, 13 people were arrested, 7 in Lanzarote, 2 in Gran Canaria and 4 in Seville, and another 12 house searches were carried out, 8 in Lanzarote, 2 in Gran Canaria and 2 in Seville, seizing 1.5 kilos of cocaine divided into pieces for sale, 3 kilos of hashish, a sailboat, 9 high-end cars, 2 motorcycles and 200,000 euros in cash, abundant documentation related to the investigated facts, as well as various computer and mobile phone equipment. According to sources close to the operation, in one of the searches on the island, 7,000 euros were found and two vehicles were seized from the owner.
Likewise, the Judicial Authority has issued two International Arrest Warrants for another 2 people involved in the events. With these arrests, "the Civil Guard considers this investigation to be concluded, which has made it possible to completely dismantle these important drug trafficking networks."
The investigation, directed by the Court of Instruction number 4 of Arrecife, has been carried out by the Organized Crime Team of the Central Operative Unit (UCO) of the Civil Guard based in the Canary Islands and the Organic Unit of the Judicial Police of Seville, also counting with the collaboration of Territorial Units of Citizen Security of the provinces in which the actions were carried out and Reserve and Security Groups (GRS) of Seville.
