Two French individuals arrested in Malaga on European arrest warrants for money laundering and forgery
MÁLAGA, 26 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) -
Two French nationals, a 52-year-old man and a 37-year-old woman, have been arrested in the capital by officers from the National Police of the Provincial Police Station of Malaga. Both were wanted by their country and had European arrest warrants for various crimes, such as money laundering and forgery.
The arrested individuals had been under active European arrest and surrender orders since October 19th for crimes of organized money laundering, abuse of corporate assets, receipt of the crime of habitual abuse of corporate assets, forgery, and use of forged documents, with a maximum penalty under French law of 10 years in prison.
At the time of their arrests, a high-end vehicle was seized from them, as well as 13,000 euros in cash and various documents, as reported by the National Police in a statement.
Likewise, under a French International Letter Rogatory, two house searches have been conducted in the province of Malaga. In one of the residences, the agents seized a over-and-under shotgun and 69 cartridges of the same caliber; an air pistol, 3,000 euros in cash, and several legal tender bills from Central Africa, Morocco, Switzerland, Hong Kong, and the Dominican Republic.
BILBAO, 18 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) -
A 41-year-old man, J.M.G., he was arrested this Friday in Bilbao after paying for a purchase with a counterfeit bill and attempting to steal several items from a lady's purse, as reported by the Municipal Police.
The events occurred around four thirty in the afternoon when a unit of the Municipal Police of Bilbao proceeded on Ribera Street to the arrest of J.M.G., 41 years old, accused of an alleged attempt at fraud and theft.
This person had tried the previous day to pay for a purchase with a presumably fake bill at a store on the aforementioned street. Likewise, they attempted to steal several items from a lady's purse, but were stopped by an employee of the store. At the time of arrest, they were found with 15 presumably fake 50 euro bills.
Five arrested in León and 600 grams of cocaine seized, one of them carried in the stomach.
The 'Operation Evora' also resulted in the seizure of 960 euros in cash, 500 euros in counterfeit bills, and a car.
LEÓN, Oct 15. (EUROPA PRESS) -
Agents of the Civil Guard from the Command of Leon arrested five people in the capital city of Leon as alleged perpetrators of a crime against public health in the form of drug trafficking. They seized 600 grams of cocaine, which was mostly carried in the stomach of one of the detainees.
As part of the actions carried out by the Civil Guard of León to eradicate or minimize drug consumption and trafficking in the province, members of the Command initiated the 'Operation Evora' last May, aimed at locating and identifying a group of individuals who might be involved in introducing and distributing drugs, primarily cocaine, in the province of León.
As explained by the Government Deputy in Leon, Francisco Álvarez, the operational activity carried out by the agents allowed them to identify and locate several people involved in cocaine trafficking. Therefore, on the 13th of last month, they decided to initiate the exploitation phase of the 'Operation Evora', which resulted in the arrest of five people in Leon.
Likewise, a house search was carried out at the residence of one of the detainees in which 20 grams of cocaine, a car, 960 euros in cash, and 500 euros in counterfeit 50 euro bills were seized, in addition to several mobile phones that will be examined by the civil guards in case their content could lead to the authorship of other criminal offenses.
The captain of the Organic Unit of the Judicial Police of León and head of the organized crime and anti-drug team, Juan Antonio Casas, detailed that several of the detainees were transporting narcotics from Madrid to León using public transportation.
Upon their arrival in the capital of León on the 13th, the Civil Guard officers proceeded to arrest them, but no drugs were found in their luggage. Therefore, a warrant was requested for their transfer, under custody, to the Hospital of León to perform radiological tests in case they were carrying illicit substances inside their bodies.
A family clan from Martorell involved in drug trafficking and counterfeit money has been arrested.
BARCELONA, Oct 14. (EUROPA PRESS) -
The Mossos d'Esquadra have arrested eight members of a family clan from Martorell (Barcelona), including a minor, who were allegedly involved in drug trafficking and counterfeiting 50 euro bills.
According to the Catalan police, who reported this Thursday, this group was the main distributor of hashish and cocaine in Martorell and, in fact, in addition to selling the drug, they also produced it.
In the operation, led by the Court of Instruction number 2 of Martorell, three residences were searched and 105 grams of high purity cocaine, 3.5 kilos of hashish, were recovered. 2,000 euros in counterfeit bills, Jewelry, plasma televisions, and a simulated gun.
Furthermore, they found all the necessary utensils to prepare the drug, cutting substances, and precision scales.
This band, with members ranging from the youngest to a 57-year-old woman, has been under investigation for some time, and is also linked to several burglaries.
For the arrests, a significant police operation was deployed with about fifty agents from the Operational Resources Area (Arro), the Canine Unit, and the Martorell police station.
After appearing before the court, the clan leader, Enrique C.E., 22 years old, was sent to prison, although the investigation remains open and more arrests are not ruled out.
ALICANTE, 8 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) -
Officers from the National Police Corps have arrested four people in Torrevieja (Alicante) as members of a group allegedly dedicated to committing fraud through the 'rip deal' or 'dirty business' method, with which they managed to obtain a booty of 250,000 euros, as reported in a statement by the Provincial Police Station of Alicante.
The Provincial Judicial Police Brigade opened an investigation at the beginning of last month, after learning that a scam had taken place near a banking entity in the Vistahermosa area of Alicante, in which the alleged criminals managed to make off with a booty of 250,000 euros.
At first, the officers arrested four people for their alleged involvement in the events, two of them for simulation of crime, and on the past 6th of October, the investigators managed to identify the rest of the members of the gang.
The Police set up a operation around their homes in Torrevieja, and managed to arrest another four people, two of them as alleged perpetrators of scams in their 'rip deal' modality and the other two, as responsible for the recruitment of the victims.
In this same operation, the agents carried out a house search in which they seized more than 300 counterfeit 500 euro bills, a touchstone and acid for gold detection, and two Rolex watches.
The detainees are an Italian citizen, a Croatian, and two Spaniards, three of them with previous records, who have already been brought before the duty investigating court in Torrevieja.
'MODUS OPERANDI'
The 'rip deal' or 'dirty deal' scam consists of locating, usually through the Internet or press, advertisements for the sale of high-value properties.
The perpetrators of the scam get in touch with their potential victims and pretend to be wealthy businessmen from various countries interested in acquiring the property, and they stay in luxury hotels or similar to negotiate the details of the transaction.
At this time, they take the opportunity to declare to the seller that they have a certain amount of black money or currency from another country that they want to exchange for euros and put into circulation --or to exchange 500 euro bills for the same amount in 50 euro bills--, in exchange for a commission that usually hovers around 10 percent.
Faced with the appealing offer and the presence of these people, who appear to have a high social status, the victims do not suspect that in the transaction of large amounts of money, they are handed counterfeit bills.
In cases where the business owner detects the fraud and doubts the authenticity of the operation, the gang even resorted to violence to seize the loot, according to the same sources.
to in the Campo de Gibraltar and the Costa del Sol
According to a statement from the Police Station of La Línea de la Concepción (Cádiz), the operation began after learning that an individual from the town, nicknamed 'el Ballenato', was selling cocaine on public streets and in leisure establishments.
Having set up surveillance on this individual, the agents verified that they were acquiring the drugs from a residence on Army Avenue, also establishing surveillance over it.
After identifying the person residing in this house, police officers confirmed that they regularly traveled to a housing development in the municipal district of Casares (Malaga) to, allegedly, purchase drugs from certain houses, which were also put under surveillance.
The Police have indicated that one of the homes in the Malaga urbanization was protected by iron gates and an armored door, along with a video surveillance system to control access.
Faced with evidence that drug transactions were taking place, once search and entry warrants for the three residences were requested from the competent judicial authority, the officers proceeded to intercept the occupants of an Audi as they entered La Línea, who had traveled to the Casares urbanization, with one of the occupants unsuccessfully attempting to flee.
Next, the police proceeded to enter and search the three surveilled residences, noting that in one of them, in addition to various types of drugs and tools for their manipulation, a pistol and a significant amount of fake money, This denotes the danger of the detained individuals, as they use the weapon as a means of security when they are going to acquire large quantities of drugs and counterfeit money to mix with legal tender when they are going to make payments for narcotics.
The detainees, four men and a woman, have been brought before the judicial authority along with 276 grams of seized cocaine, 32 hashish acorns, more than a kilo of marijuana, tools for drug manipulation, a 6.35 caliber pistol, 1,740 euros in legal tender, and 29,750 euros in counterfeit bills, in addition to seven mobile phones and an Audi A-3.
The director of the Tax Agency, Juan Manuel López Carbajo, has announced that the organization he presides over has collected 6.597 billion between January and August from the fight against fraud, which represents an increase of 26% compared to the figure recorded in the same period of 2009.
López Carbajo has specified that it is about 7,000 settlements worth about 160 million euros, contrary to the figures that have been published in some media outlets. "The data must be handled carefully," he insisted.
Additionally, he has assured that the resolution of the TEAC has not affected the objectives of the position since, up to September, 63% of the requests have been resolved compared to the 60% that had been resolved in the same period of the previous year.
