Spanish Civil Guard dismantles the logistics of drug trafficking on the Costa Dorada

Spanish Civil Guard, in the MAIUS and DRIFT operations, have dismantled two criminal organizations dedicated to drug trafficking in Tarragona and that provided the services and logistics necessary for others to introduce hashish through the Costa Dorada.

Both investigations began last year 2021, when Civil Guard agents suspected a possible movement of hashish trafficking from Andalusia to the Catalan coast.

The Civil Guard began both operations to obtain more information throughout the province of Tarragona, and especially in the Ebro Delta.

Operation MAIUS

The MAIUS operation has made it possible to dismantle a criminal organization based in the Ebro Delta dedicated to facilitating the launching of “narcolanchas” by other organizations, with tasks typical of a service and logistics company, facilitating the actions that other organizations needed to introduce hashish in Tarragona coast.
These services were required by organizations based throughout the national territory, detecting links with organizations in Portugal, Galicia, Andalusia, Extremadura and Catalonia.

The organization provided the “narcolanchas”, which were launched at the mouth of the Ebro, taking advantage of its knowledge of the area and the geographical location of the Delta, facilitating fuel, food, storage and accommodation for the crews. They even offered a security service so as not to be detected by police forces during the preparatory steps or the caches themselves.

The MAIUS operation has made it possible to arrest 19 people in Tarragona and Algeciras, including those responsible for the organization in Tarragona, currently in prison for these events. Also, five “narcolanchas” valued at 900,000 euros and a 2,275-kilo cache of hashish valued at four and a half million euros have been seized. This operation ended on March 30.

The investigation has been carried out under the protection of the Investigating Court No. 3 of Tortosa.

Operation DRIFT

The DRIFT operation has made it possible to arrest what is considered to be the main person responsible for hashish trafficking in Catalonia during the last year. The detainee and his organization had the ability to introduce hashish into Spain and subsequently send the drug to other European countries.

The organization acquired its boats in Galicia and Portugal. After transporting them to Catalonia, they prepared them in their own “narco-workshop” located in Cambrils. In addition, they had a nautical mechanic specialized in this type of boat, who was in charge of preparing the narco-boats to reach North Africa.

The boats transported drugs for the organization itself, as well as for others that paid for their services. During the investigation, four hashish caches have been aborted, two of which occurred in Tarragona, one in Alicante and one in Ibiza. During the investigation of the two operations there have been coincidences with other investigations of the National Police and Customs Surveillance, which have been duly coordinated through the Intelligence Center against Terrorism and Organized Crime (CITCO).

The DRIFT operation has concluded this Tuesday, having made arrests in Alicante, Tarragona, Barcelona, ​​Murcia and the Balearic Islands of 30 people and another two in France. Likewise, 5 drug traffickers valued at 900,000 euros and more than 5,700 kg of hashish have been seized, with a value that exceeds 19 million euros, and it has been possible to clarify the authorship of other hashish seizures close to four tons, which were made previously in Vinaroz and in France.

The investigation has been carried out under the Investigation Court 2 of Reus.

Both operations have been directed and developed simultaneously by the Tarragona Command and the OCON-SUR, with the collaboration of Judicial Police Units from other commands and from the Barcelona Zone, CRAIN, ARS, UHEL and other units.