Simon Wade
A SPECIALISED gang of 21 criminals has been dismantled after an investigation revealed they laundered €3m via 50 other organizations dedicated to crime.
The group worked across Spain, and were arrested in different provinces such as Madrid, Toledo, Badajoz, Ciudad Real and Alicante.
The main methods of laundering cash for them was via real estate projects, cryptocurrency and precious metals.
Some 124 linked bank accounts have also been judicially blocked, as well as 52 properties.
Guardia Civil also uncovered plantations of marijuana that were cultivated as apparently legitimate enterprises, but were considered to be part of their drug-trafficking operations.
During Operation GAONA, the Money Laundering Group of the Central Unit Operativa (UCO) of the Guardia Civil discovered an entire corporate network of fraudsters formed by more than 50 companies.
As well as over €200,000 in cash and a marijuana plantation, more than 650 kg of processed marijuana ready for distribution was seized,
Some 14 various weapons were found, various high-end cars, and “abundant documentation and computer material” was found, now waiting to be analysed.
The arrests are the result of a three-year investigation, starting in 2018 with Operation Torre Blanca, which established strong drug trafficking links between Spain and Colombia laundering more than 8 million euros.
Operation GAONA continued on, with police connecting the dozens of different organised criminal gangs to certain banking transactions and money laundering.
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