The Civil Guard has intervened 3,400 kilograms of cocaine after thwarting five shipments from South America of the criminal organization with the greatest capacity to introduce this drug through the Port of Algeciras (Cadiz). The operation has resulted in ten house searches and 22 detainees, seven of them in provisional prison, including one of the biggest “drug lords” in the world based in Marbella (Málaga).
According to the Armed Institute in a statement, the majority of those detained in the so-called operation Goodbye They were already arrested in 2021 in the framework of another operation, called Jumita-Aelaawhere 1,600 kilograms of cocaine were seized and 16 million euros in cash. The Investigative Court number 4 of Algeciras has issued an international arrest warrant and a European arrest and surrender warrant against three members of the network, two businessmen and a worker at the port of Algeciras, who remain fugitives.
The investigation, which began in August 2022, has made it possible to identify all those responsible for the drugs seized in the five arrests, as well as the role played by each of them. Among those detained is the person considered the leader of the organization and one of the drug lords worldwide. The location and arrest of this person, based in Marbella (Málaga), was made difficult by the “extreme security measures” taken to avoid his location and tracking.
According to the Civil Guard, this person could not be arrested during the operation carried out in 2021, where he was also the main objective. He was in charge of managing, thanks to his long list of suppliers, consignments of cocaine hidden in maritime containers from South America to the Port of Algeciras.
Its main partner and also one of the leaders of the organization is a renowned businessman from Campo de Gibraltar, José Carlos SC., who remains on the run with his older brother, Anthony Jesus SCfor these same facts. According to the Civil Guard, this person used his logistics companies to transfer the containers from the Port of Algeciras and had the necessary contacts to ensure control of the maritime containers from their arrival at the Port of Algeciras, monitoring all the movements and inspections to which they could be subject until their departure from the port of Algeciras.
For this task he had several workers from the Port of Algeciras, two of whom have been arrested, standing out among all of them Esteban M.H.currently on the run, also known as “Messi de la Torre”, who, thanks to his position as a worker in the Port at the time the events took place, had privileged information that he made available to the criminal organization.
According to the Civil Guard, the great economic benefits that the brothers José Carlos SC and Antonio Jesús SC have obtained through the introduction of cocaine in the Campo de Gibraltar have allowed them to form an important business network at the national level. The network also had people who were in charge of providing security to the operations carried out, ensuring that the companies used were “clean”, that is, companies that, due to their activity and history, were less susceptible to being inspected and, in the event that this If it happens, be alerted.
In addition to the leaders of the organization detained in this exploitation phase of the Operation, there had already been 14 other arrests in the five drug seizures attributed to the criminal organization. These people occupied the lowest echelons of the organization, such as the truck drivers who transported the containers with the drugs hidden inside and the personnel in charge of providing security during the movement and unloading the drugs at the destination ships.
The investigation has been directed by the Court of Instruction number 4 of Algeciras (Cádiz) and coordinated by the Campo de Gibraltar Anti-Drug Prosecutor’s Office. The Court of Instruction number 4 of Algeciras has issued an international arrest warrant (OID) and a European arrest and surrender order on José Carlos SC, Antonio Jesús SC and Esteban MH in order to proceed with the exercise of the corresponding criminal actions. for their criminal activities.
Besides, Interpol has issued a red notice based on the OID, which entails worldwide dissemination of the situation of these three people and allows law enforcement agencies around the world to provisionally detain them pending their extradition or surrender to the Spanish judicial authorities.
*Information from Europa Press
