The Guardia Civil, in collaboration with the police authorities of the Netherlands, has dismantled a criminal organization dedicated to international drug trafficking and money laundering, within the framework of operation Tulp. The operation has resulted in the arrest of three members of the same family, one of whom was considered an international High Value Target.
During the investigation, which has lasted for more than two years, the security forces have seized around 600 kilograms of cocaine in different European countries, including Spain, Belgium and the Netherlands. The organization used complex logistical structures for international drug shipments, operating in a coordinated manner in several countries.
The investigation was triggered by the analysis of communications extracted from the encrypted Sky ECC platform used by the suspects in a previous police operation. Based on these messages, the National Investigation and Intervention Unit of the Dutch Politie started to follow the activity of several members of the criminal group, all of them belonging to the same family nucleus.
During the course of the investigation, the investigators detected that one of the main leaders of the network had established himself on the island of Ibiza, from where he directed the criminal network and coordinated the international shipments of narcotics. Given this circumstance, the Central Operational Unit (UCO) of the Civil Guard took on a key role in the investigation, focusing its efforts on the leader of the organization based in Spain.
After months of joint work between the two police forces, this December saw the arrest of the three members of the criminal group and the carrying out of numerous house searches in both the Netherlands and Spain. During these actions, electronic devices, documentation relevant to the case, several vehicles, large amounts of cash and luxury watches were seized.
The investigation has been directed by the Court of Instruction number 4 of Ibiza and has been developed by the Team against Organized Crime of the Civil Guard in the Balearic Islands, in collaboration with the National Investigation and Intervention Unit of the Dutch Politie, with the support and coordination of EUROPOL.
