Jun.16, 2010

MADRID – Spain’s Civil Guard broke up an organization dedicated to laundering money gleaned from drug trafficking, arresting 25 people and seizing 2.5 million euros ($3 million) in assets.

Among those under arrest are 10 Spaniards, nine Colombians and six Dominicans, according to the Civil Guard, a militarized national police force.

The majority of the Spaniards were high-level employees of banking and trade entities who received a percentage of the profits by delivering to the drug ring high-value currency bills in exchange for smaller denominations so that the ill-gotten funds could be more easily hidden and transported.

Operation “Aspas” (Windmill sails) was launched in mid-2009 when the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration alerted Spanish authorities to an organization based in Spain that smuggled cocaine and laundered the profits.

The Civil Guard began an investigation during which it managed to identify all the members of the network, their places of residence and their modus operandi.

When the organization received important consignments of money, it used couriers – known as “mules” – to transport it to the countries of origin of the cocaine.

Other activities engaged in by the network included stealing narcotics from other drug trafficking organizations, a task for which they had equipped themselves with assorted firearms.