The Diplomat
The Guardia Civil and the French National Gendarmerie have jointly carried out the Stup Iron 31 operation in which a criminal organization dedicated to international drug trafficking has been dismantled, as reported yesterday by the Ministry of Interior.
In the operation 22 people have been arrested in Barcelona, Girona, Bordeaux and Toulouse. They are considered perpetrators of a crime of drug trafficking and membership of a criminal organization. The organization sold the drugs on the Telegram messaging application, made shipments through postal parcel services and received payments in cryptocurrencies.
The two police forces simultaneously carried out 22 searches – 18 in France and four in Spain – in which 178,000 euros were seized and 70,000 euros were blocked in different bank accounts. The agents also seized 8.6 kilos of cocaine, 121 kilos of marijuana, 56 kilos of cannabis resin, four firearms, 11 high-end vehicles and luxury items from drug trafficking.
The investigation has shown that it is a perfectly structured and compartmentalized organization, with Barcelona as the point of connection between the different groups that supplied it. The purchase of all the drugs was carried out in our country, to be distributed later in France.
On the other hand, the investigators have identified the member who acted as a key player in this network, and to whom it has been possible to attribute the role of manager of a large part of the importation of drugs from Spain to Bordeaux and Toulouse. This person was arrested in a police operation in Girona while trying to flee with part of the money used to purchase the drugs in Spain.
