Agents of the National Police and the Civil Guard have arrested 16 people in the provinces of Valencia and Alicante as alleged members of a criminal organization dedicated to drug trafficking at a national and international level.
The operation began at the beginning of 2022, as a result of information obtained about the existence of a criminal organization made up of several independent cells, dedicated to the cultivation and trafficking of marijuana, whose link was the same supplier, which also carried out advisory tasks. and logistics control.
The territorial implantation was based in the provinces of Valencia and Alicante, with investigators of various nationalities and indications of drug trafficking destined for other European countries and at a national level. The investigations revealed the use of fictitious commercial structures to simulate the ‘modus vivendi’ and justify the income obtained by some of the objectives.
In fact, the ‘modus operandi’ consisted of using foreign individuals as tenants of the chalets or buildings, where the ‘indoor’ cultivation was subsequently carried out, or through third parties, or shell companies that subleased the buildings, making advance payments in cash. and looking for locations that, either because they are remote and scattered from the place, or because they are located in urbanizations with high purchasing power, went unnoticed to carry out criminal activity.
Subsequently, the international transit of some of those identified to countries related as European destination points for drug trafficking and with the nationality of some of those investigated by the criminal organization was confirmed.
International collaboration with Europol and the countries of origin of those investigated and detained have promoted a fluid exchange of information that has made it possible to identify accounts abroad with numerous funds and gather evidence for the continuation of investigations in destination countries (Lithuania, Albania, Great Britain, the Netherlands and Italy).
The operation has made it possible to dismantle a criminal organization dedicated to drug trafficking and electricity fraud with the arrest of 16 people, one investigated and five implicated who are in search.
A total of seven house searches have been carried out, in which the following have been seized: 3,885 marijuana plants, 65 kilograms of buds, 10.6 liters of marijuana oil, 88 grams of hashish, a shotgun, a bulletproof vest, a vehicle, 10,781 euros in cash, numerous documentation, mobile phone terminals, computers and tablets, and numerous material for the cultivation of drug plantations.
The detainees are 15 men, between the ages of 19 and 69, of Spanish, Italian, Albanian and Lithuanian origin, and a 42-year-old woman of Spanish origin. They are attributed 13 crimes: against public health, criminal organization, fraud of electricity and illegal possession of weapons.
The seven records carried out have taken place in the Alicante town of Elx, and in the Valencian towns of Chiva, Llombai, Picassent and Torrent. The proceedings have been delivered to the Provincial Prosecutor’s Office of Valencia, Anti-drug Prosecutor’s Office, Investigation Court number two of Requena, Investigation Court number one of Picassent, Investigation Court number two of Picassent, Investigation Court number three of Torrent, Investigation Court number one of Requena, Investigating Court number four of Requena and Investigating Court number three of Picassent.
