Secret modifications custom built in luxury cars did the trick for this large narco ring,
specializing in moving cargo far and wide.
They had a fleet of tricked-out cars loaned to runners by the bosses.
And they weren't just moving cocaine. They were stockpiling a trendy synthetic
drug on a Mediterranean island for an expected flood of tourists flocking to it's famed
nightclubs when pandemic restrictions lifted.
The Mob Reporter here with news of a series of arrests and seizures announced this week in Spain,
tackling a sophisticated ring of narcos, described by investigators as one of the most active and wide ranging in the country
who use clever hiding spots to move bricks of cocaine, kilos of math, and also some of this.
Let me tell you about it.
Regular viewers of my channel, more of whom should get around to actually subscribing by the way, will know that I love exploring car traps.
They're the special compartments built in cars, trucks, and even boats
usually used to stash contraband. Some are super sophisticated,
mobile works of automotive art. They require a combination to
unlock the hydraulics. But unlike regular locks, these combinations are sequences of car controls,
such as holding down the brake pedal while the door is open
and then turning on the windshield wipers and the radio for example.
Others are simpler, some are outright brutish, but they can all be effective to keep loads
hidden from prying eyes, especially if the person looking isn't sure what to look for,
or that they're supposed to be looking there at all.
And that's the downfall. In this case announced last week,
a four-month probe by two federal police agencies in Spain unraveled the tricks of their trade
and allegedly the people behind them. Here is a Spanish police officer showing
how one of the traps they found in this probe is released
In this case, the trap was built under the passenger car seat.
The organization supplied a fleet of custom trap cars for members to use in their smuggling
The suspects formed a network of connected parts from the coastal area receiving
drugs from South America to a matrix of distribution nodes across the country.
It's like the narcos’ version of Amazon's model. The network featured a chain of specialists,
the skilled smugglers along the Galician coast receiving the product from overseas,
a businessman in the hospitality sector in a neighboring region of Asturias
and logistics experts supervising transport around the country.
One of the bosses was allegedly caught on a wiretap boasting of the network's professionalism.
Sixteen people were arrested in several provinces of Spain, from the capital Madrid
to Mediterranean ports and Atlantic ports and the south central city of Jaén, said to
be the world's largest producer of olive oil, which many locals refer to as liquid gold.
Some have apparently found another commodity to work with.
The investigation also focused on the storied island of Ibiza.
Police say their investigation was complex because of the vast
geography the narcos were traveling, their criminal specializations
and their fleet of custom cars. They used scout cars as well,
with someone driving ahead of the trap car looking for police checks, speed traps,
or anything else that might interfere with the trip.
They communicated with each other using encrypted messaging apps.
Investigators say the police probe unfolded in three phases.
In May 50 kilos of cocaine were found in a car trap under a hidden false bottom of a sedan.
In another trap, they found 370,000 euros, which is about 440,000 U.S. dollars
Four people were arrested then From there, officers raided four properties,
in Madrid and near the port of Valencia seizing several high end cars,
encrypted electronic devices, more cash and documents that helped investigators
piece together the working parts of the criminal structure.
The second phase came a few weeks later with 11 raids and five more arrests,
including on the Spanish island of Ibiza. It's an island that's become an
electronic dance music Mecca. It's famous for its dance clubs,
all-night raves, DJs and music festivals. Young tourists flock to the island for
the nightclubs and along with the tasty beats, many are hungry for club drugs.
Police say the criminal network ramped up activity during Spain's pandemic lockdown,
devising new methods to avert scrutiny and avoid detection,
so they could stockpile product on Ibiza for when travel restrictions were lifted to feed pent up
demand for an expected summer flood of clubbers. The probe was called Operation Cult.
The only reason I can see is from the cult-like fervor of some of the hardcore ravers.
But in any event, in this phase of the operation, five vehicles used as trap
cars were seized, along with 1.3 kilos of cocaine, more cash and mobile phones.
The third and most interesting phase came at the end of June
Fifteen kilos of coke were found in a false bottom car trap.
And during two more raids in Madrid and Valencia came three more arrests.
And that's when they found this stuff. Along with 40 more kilos of coke,
two kilos of men, police say they seize 500 grams of pink cocaine.
They call it pink cocaine, but it isn't cocaine at all.
that's largely just a marketing ploy, as it's often found in a similar powdered form.
And it isn't a new drug, but it remains on the fringe — with periodic bursts of popularity
within circles of those who can afford it It is now experiencing a new round of interest.
In its original form, it was a creation of the famed pharmacologist-chemist
Alexander Shulgin in the 1970s who synthesized what he called to 2C-B,
for the two carbon atoms between the benzene ring in its chemical structure
It’s formulation’s name gave it more accurate street nicknames,
such as Tusi or Tucibi. Its recent resurgence is
attributed to this man, Alejandro Arboleda Uribe. Alejandro grew rich popularizing the pink powder.
The Colombian press dubbed him the ‘Pablo Escobar of synthetic drugs’
when he was arrested there in 2016. Previous high points, so to speak, were
when 2C-B was found hidden in Christian artifacts being shipped from Colombia to the United States.
In 2018, a large amount was found embued in the heavy pink paint used on a large
portrait of the Virgin Mary being shipped from Bogota to New York City.
Police said that a highly religious border guard at El Dorado airport was captivated by
the painting and stared at it in adoration and then touched it when he was saying
goodbye to his saint only to disturb a
trickle of pink powder from the canvas. In 2019 2C-B was found stashed in a Bible
being shipped from Cali to Miami. When it was being examined,
an officer noticed traces of pink dust. Using a scalpel, the leather binding of
the cover was removed to reveal the hidden content. That's a narco-Bible I guess.
I'm told that most of what is sold today as pink cocaine is pretend versions of 2C-B
mixing other synthetics with amphetamines or caffeine and pink dye as a marketing ploy.
But I don't know what variation was in play in this operation using the car traps
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