National Police and Civil Guard dispersed a network of workers at an airport ground handling company Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas The person who smuggled cocaine from flights coming from South America by hiding it in their backpacks.
In total, seven company employees were arrested and one passenger was also arrested. Colombia Both institutions stated in their statements that he was the last buyer of the drug and the leader of the criminal organization, who carried 14 kilos of cocaine in his luggage.
During the year when the investigations continued, the Civil Guard Judicial Police and Drugs and Organized Crime Unit (UDYCO) Madrid Police Department teams seized a total of 180 kilos of cocaine, which the arrested people tried to smuggle into Madrid.
The first investigation was revealed at the end of 2022, during a flight. Ecuador There were two backpacks with check-in labels inside that were not linked to any passengers and contained more than 20 kilos of high purity cocaine.
wrong labels This allowed the workers involved to detect luggage carrying narcotics and then have them “rescued” and taken out of the airport to be offered for sale.
Sometimes these names did not correspond to any passenger, and sometimes they distorted the names of people traveling on the flight. great risk for passengers.
As reflected in one of the reports prepared by agents within the framework of this case, which EFE had access to at one time They removed the real tag from a minor’s backpack and they replaced him with one of their own, with whom they were carrying drugs.
Agents warned about this practice, 11 stashesHidden in backpacks from cities such as Guayaquil (Ecuador), Asunción (Paraguay) or Bogota (Colombia). Sometimes they went to other cities in Spain, but they always passed through Madrid.
Between September 22 and 27, the first arrests took place, including three of the workers carrying two backpacks. 26 kilos of cocaine. Shortly thereafter, they conducted five house searches in different parts of the Madrid Region, during which three other employees were also arrested.
One of the leaders of the organization, who was detained by airport employees in one of the houses, was also arrested. They handed over the items they managed to extract.
After the leader’s arrest, agents discovered that the gang was planning to promote him. 14 more kilos The same procedure was followed, leading to the arrest of a Colombian citizen.
A seventh worker, who was thought to be linked to the conspiracy through analysis of his colleagues’ mobile phones, was already arrested in December, according to the report. He confirmed his arrest.
After appearing in court Main suspects jailedwhile the rest remains He was released with precautions.