a large police operation in Spain ends with crashing raids and eye-popping seizures, but
beyond the drama and the fancy show-and-tell, this probe reveals more proof of the Mexican invasion
of Europe . Of course the Sinaloa cartel was there, setting up shop in such a key strategic region. To
ignore this gateway to the huge European market would just be gross negligence on their part
The Mob Reporter here with news of a luxury roundup in Spain of an alleged Mexican
crime family, linked to the Sinaloa cartel, the organization once led by the notorious El Chapo
And what they were doing in Spain tells us a lot about how the underworld operates
For starters, it's a clear reminder that without assistance from people in the upper world
the players in the underworld wouldn't get nearly as far, nearly as fast. Let me tell you about it
The visuals of this operation tell one story: palatial homes, rolling estates
fleets of luxury cars
jewelry, and acres of property all seemed primary targets for the 200 officers with
Spain's National Police and the tax agency, in three regions of Spain: Madrid, 40 miles east of
the capital in Guadalajara, and 300 miles due south, on the southern coast, in Malaga
The operation was announced on June 4th, 2022. Investigators say the target was a crime family
from Mexico linked to the Sinaloa cartel; they relocated to Spain in 2020 — backed by 10 and
a half million dollars in cash and gold to ensure a smooth transition. The integration
of Mexican crooks into Spain was likely easier, on a surface level, than for gangsters from, say,
Eastern Europe; they speak Spanish after all, but they still attracted attention. Somebody noticed
the sudden influx of citizens from Sinaloa moving into mansions and buying luxury cars
And more luxury cars. They set up businesses and companies, secured warehouses and industrial
space, and bought large homes. A lot of large homes and luxury cars. Have I mentioned the cars? While
speaking Spanish was helpful, it was corruption that helped the most. Officials were bribed to
help with residency, documentation, registration, and even the mechanics of their operation
Investigators connected the newcomers to large pot farms around Guadalajara
and other provinces and tracked suspected traffickers coming and going from the facilities
Early in the probe, police picked some of them off, seizing some 60 tons of plants, so the
network shifted to hydroponics and greenhouses, tidy and professional. Their greenhouses covered
more than 4,000 square meters, which is more than 43,000 square feet. That product was
infiltrating legal markets for extracted CBD in Portugal and Switzerland, authorities say. What needed
more secrecy was the coca paste, arriving from South America by mules. Those are people acting
as secret couriers, not literal mules. And this is where the cartel expertise really came in handy
Processing in clandestine labs is something of a specialty and the output was moved on to Dutch
Croatian and Chinese gangsters to do what they do best with it. We can see some of that here, pressing
bricks and adding their in-house silk screen branding. In this case a bootleg Ferrari logo
They tried to reflect a faux version of the luxury lifestyle the alleged organizers were living for
real. The cars and houses and cash that police seized made a sumptuous display. They were making
out like bandits, which, if the allegations are true, they were. Rolls-Royce, Lamborghini
Range Rover, Porsche, Mercedes, BMW, Cadillac, Audi... Although strangely I'm not seeing a Ferrari. Maybe
their silk screening handiwork tainted that brand in their eyes, or maybe I'm just not seeing it. This
openly opulent lifestyle was all made possible by the cartel's soft landing in Spain. It wasn't the
typical immigrant experience and that required corruption. The network used companies in Spain
Colombia, Switzerland, and Portugal to launder their money, police say. The numbers from the operation
look like this: 24 suspects arrested, 21 addresses raided, a thousand kilos of weed and 37 kilos of
coke seized, two clandestine labs dismantled and 20 bank accounts frozen. Guns were found too: three
submachine guns and a bunch of pistols. Officers seized the luxury goods, that are considered the
proceeds of crime. They valued it at six million euros, which is about seven and a half million US
dollars. It included jewelry, 17 vehicles, four homes and more than 105 000 euros in cash. The probe was
code named Operation Papaver. That's a curious choice, because that usually refers to poppies
the flowers from which opium is derived. We all associate the Sinaloa cartel with cocaine, and for
good reason. That's the commodity that pumped the Mexican crews into underworld superpower status
El Chapo's personal roots, though, were in weed. He started out helping his dad's grow op
and it remains on the cartel's menu. The Sinaloa cartel after all are polydrug masters. El Chapo
is no longer calling the shots for the cartel. He was finally arrested and extradited from Mexico to
the United States, where he was found guilty. With El Chapo now in prison serving a life sentence
his cartel is allegedly in the hands of El Mayo, whose real name is Ismael Zambada Garcia. El Mayo
was one of El Chapo's right-hand men. He has at least one good thing going for him — despite his
long history in the trade, facing five serious U.S federal indictments, and a $15 million bounty
on his head, he's never spent a day in jail. That's what you call a charmed life. On the downside, his
son wasn't as lucky. He was arrested and ended up cooperating with U.S. officials. He even testified
against El Chapo at the boss's trial in Brooklyn in 2019. In his riveting testimony he said that El
Chapo's bribery budget was one million dollars a month. That kind of money can open a lot of doors
Whether it's under El Chapo or El Mayo, if the Sinaloa cartel has its hooks in your
country, you best be on your toes. These cats are voracious. Not that this is the
first incursion by Mexico's cartels into Spain. For years various Mexican cartels
have sent emissaries and operatives there, trying to yank business away from the Colombian cartels
The Sinaloa cartel was an early favorite. As a sign of Spain's importance to El Chapo, he sent his own
cousin as his representative Jesus Gutierrez Guzman. His efforts there were cut short though
One of the deals Jesus hammered out, finalized at this meeting in a Madrid hotel, ended up being
with undercover agents posing as Italian mobsters. "That it appears we have come to an agreement today..."
"And hopefully it's the first agreement of many..." Oh sure, Jesus got 346 kilos
of coke to Spain in 2012 — but he delivered it right to the FBI. He was arrested soon after
we see that here, and put on trial in New Hampshire and sentenced to 16 years
But a network of corrupted officials remained. Whether the same people were in play this time
around, or if it's a new generation of bought- and-paid for officials and white collar workers
the result is the same. But what makes a huge difference is whether they are there at all
Without willing or willfully blind professionals, officials, and other supposedly legitimate workers
the underworld just wouldn't be what it is today. Thanks for watching and please subscribe