DrugsOrganised Crime

Guardia Civil dismantles network dedicated to international marijuana trafficking

The Guardia Civil’s operation Huluxu, has dismantled in Seville an international organization dedicated to the trafficking of marijuana through transport companies. 20 people have been arrested, 11 of them in Spain and the rest in collaboration with police authorities in France, Italy and Poland. Likewise, 235 kilos of marijuana have been seized, as well as two plantations, cash, abundant documentation, a detonator pistol manipulated to use with projectile ammunition.

The operation began last October when it became known that a package containing 7 kilos of marijuana had been intercepted in Leipzig (Germany), whose origin was Seville and had a final destination in the United Kingdom.

On the other hand, the agents learned that another similar package originated from the same address as the previous one, so after different investigations, they located the senders. These senders were two citizens of Asian origin, one of them being a minor. These people were intercepted in an SUV, in which delivery notes for packages sent to France, Italy and Hungary that had been sent from the provinces of Córdoba, Granada and Huelva were found. In these packages 35 kilos of vacuum packed marijuana buds were found.

Subsequently, the investigation focused on an industrial estate located in Seville, known as PI Carretera Amarilla, from where some of the packages departed.

There are numerous shipments made by this network and that the Civil Guard intervenes. During this time, the members of the network are focused and it was learned that citizens of Spanish origin participate in sending the packages.

The members of the organization took numerous security measures when they carried the marijuana to the transport company, such as using two vehicles, previously rented with fictitious identities, to warn of the presence of police controls; as well as using different routes, or changing direction for no reason.

They were supplied from different marijuana producers in the various Andalusian provinces. Some of these producers used a variety of marijuana that they grew in urban areas, since very little space was required as it was a small plant, and it produced a large amount of buds.

Once the plants were harvested, they were vacuum packed and placed in boxes.

Shipments were made by transport companies in small batches. Its content was masked as hospitality, food, clothing, etc. The first destinations were varied although among those apprehended by the Civil Guard were Holland, Italy, Poland, France, the United Kingdom, Belgium and Hungary.

These countries, included in the Schengen agreement, could be the final destination of the drug or serve as a transit to third countries. If it was not the last destination for marijuana, the recipients, including students, collected the shipment and placed a new sticker on the sticker with the recipient’s address, changing its destination and the package continued on its way.

From the analysis of all the information, it has been possible to know that the organization received and sent packages to 45 countries on five continents, documentation that is being analyzed and evaluated by the researchers.

Once the members of the organization and their role within it were known, the agents asked the court for 9 searches in homes and premises located in Seville capital, San Juan de Aznalfarache, Dos Hermanas, in Illescas (Toledo) and Villarubia de los Ojos (Ciudad Real). One of the searches took place in a restaurant located in the Carretera Amarilla industrial park, a place that served as a meeting place for the network.

The records found abundant documentation, cash, tools for packaging, weighing and hiding the drug, as well as two marijuana plantations with 250 marijuana plants.

The operation, directed by the Court of Instruction number 6 of those of Seville, has been carried out by agents belonging to the Information Section of the Andalusia Area, and with the support of UCE 3, the Information Section of the area of Valencia, the Information Group of Cádiz, Ciudad Real and Toledo, as well as the GAR, GRS and ODAIFI of the Seville Command.