Spain’s National Police announced on 27 October that Juan Carlos T. B., alias ‘Moreno’, one of Spain’s main cannabis resin traffickers, had been arrested in Tangier.[1] He had left his luxury residence in Madrid in March to avoid justice and was out of sight for more than six months.[1] Moroccan authorities detained him in Tangier on 8 October through international police cooperation.[2] He is held in Morocco awaiting extradition to Spain.[1] Rabat has accepted the extradition request.[2]
The police operation concluded with 86 arrests.[3] Eighteen of them were placed in pre-trial detention, accused of criminal organisation, drug trafficking and money laundering.[1] UDYCO, Spain’s central unit for drugs and organised crime, opened the case in early 2025.[1] It uncovered seven drug caches in Madrid, Guadalajara and Valencia.[1] Officers seized 10.8 tonnes of cannabis resin and 20 kg of marijuana buds.[1] Most of the arrests were in Madrid (65), followed by Guadalajara (10), Valencia (5) and Málaga (3), with one each in Burgos, Almería and Girona.[1]
The resin came from Morocco through Spanish coastal routes to Madrid, the network’s hub for storage and redistribution in Spain and Europe, police said.[1] The leader had been on a graphics company’s payroll at more than €5,000 net a month without doing any real work.[1] The network put its profits back into the legal economy through fraudulent loans, fake payslips and invoices from shell companies.[1] Half of those arrested were Spanish and the rest Moroccan.[2] The case is before the Audiencia Nacional, the Madrid court competent for major crime.[1] Investigating judge Francisco de Jorge has led the case with the Special Anti-Drug Prosecutor’s Office.[2]