In a joint operation with the Civil Guard and the Stockholm police, Spain’s Tax Agency announced on 31 January 2019 that it had dismantled a criminal organisation moving large quantities of hashish and cannabis from Málaga province across the European Union.[1] The investigation began when a Málaga traffic patrol found a lorry carrying 56 burlap bales holding 1,680 kilograms of hashish and arrested its driver on the spot.[1] Officers then focused on a Málaga-based group led by Belgian nationals that supplied Swedish-origin gangs and shipped drugs onward to France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden and the United Kingdom by hired and owned cars and haulage lorries.[1]
Six searches in Málaga city, Mijas, Cártama, Marbella and San Pedro Alcántara seized 3,470.32 kilograms of hashish, 76.91 kilograms of cannabis, 1.036 kilograms of hashish resin, 9,660 euros, ten vehicles, 22 mobile phones and logistics records.[1] Fourteen people were arrested, including the organisation’s leaders and its logistics, storage and distribution managers; four more suspects remained at large under arrest warrants.[1] The detainees, Spanish, Belgian, Polish, Danish and British nationals, were charged with drug trafficking, membership of a criminal organisation and money laundering.[1]
