The entire operation read like a staged spectacle, built to scatter attention while concealing the real network behind a powerful drug trafficking organization. Two small distribution rings, led by Sergio Esteban Ardila, and another headed by Orense Carlos Garcia Morales, known by the nickname El Matador, together with Mexican collaborators under the command of Isidro López de la Torre, formed the backbone of the scheme. From the outset, the Colombian group was not acting freely; it was under tight surveillance and carefully controlled delivery, a strategy that unfolded in the Naón industrial area in Siero on October 28. The summary of the covert operation, known in press circles through La Nueva España of the Prensa Ibérica group, reveals the orchestrated nature of the arrest and the intricate planning that preceded it.
The North American Drug Control Task Force highlighted the presence in Colombia of a 56-year-old Venezuelan figure, Luis Vieira Méndez, first described as the head of a Bogotá-based trafficking network. Later assessments clarified that Vieira functioned as the right-hand man to the true president of the organization, Sergio Esteban Ardila, who was nicknamed El Joven or The Young One. U.S. authorities traced a spy within the network as Vieira sought to move roughly two tons of cocaine by sea toward Spain, with the goal of selling the product to buyers and distributors in that country.
Through late May, surveillance in Madrid identified Ardila, a figure who split his time between Colombia and Europe and maintained a lifestyle marked by substantial hotel stays and a high standard of living. The months of May 21 and 22 marked the start of the preparations to ship the drug toward Spain, with García Morales and López de la Torre carrying strategic roles, alongside Vieira, whose presence in Madrid was repeatedly confirmed by the investigative teams.
By mid-September, Vieira traveled to Spain to oversee the acceptance and integration of the cargo. The operation, described by Chicago prosecutors as covert, began to bear fruit as prosecutors connected with Rosana Morán, a national anti-drug prosecutor, pressed for formal legal action in Spain. On the 25th of the month, the Colombian organization allegedly delivered 67 bales containing 1,340 kilograms of cocaine to undercover agents aboard a vessel stationed 200 miles east of Barbados. The drugs were promptly seized by American authorities.
Prosecutor Hayes noted that Spanish prosecutors would pursue the case against the operators involved, detailing two principal lines of command: one led by Ardila, who was known as El Joven, and a second based in Mexico. In Spain, the dispatch was intended for another group of individuals, with a reported total reaching roughly 1,340 kilograms split into multiple consignments. The individuals responsible for collecting the drugs in Spain were described as Galician associates who had previously met with Vieira, according to ongoing investigations.
Contrary to expectations that the shipment would reach Spain by sea, the delivery happened by air. The drugs began their journey from the Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and arrived inside a container that was guarded by a police officer and subsequently transferred to a warehouse. The rest of the product, around 1,320 pounds, was flown and then moved to Madrid’s Adolfo Suárez Airport before being transported to the Canillas Complex, the base of the Central Narcotics Brigade.
The role of agents in the operation was to ensure the handover occurred in a controlled, monitored environment, eliminating any chance of the delivery unraveling under scrutiny. The plan was crafted so the initial shipments would appear legitimate and safe, only to be redirected through several routes, eventually landing at a warehouse in the Naón industrial estate in Siero. There, the goods would be handed off to the actual traffickers. The operation exposed a highly divided chain of responsibilities: those who moved the drugs, those who received them, and those who stored and sold them in Spain. The police strategy was to short-circuit this network with precise interventions that minimized risk and avoided alerting other participants.
The official summary leaves questions about the exact route from the Naón shipment, noting the locations of key hideouts and hotels involved, such as the El Matador residence in Pereiro de Arbo, the Hyatt hotel in Madrid where Ardila stayed, and the Naón vessel itself, though the detailed source material did not disclose all the particulars at this stage. The drug’s journey shows a pattern of rapid adaptation as investigators pieced together movements and contacts across borders.
El Matador, accompanied by his partner, was later reported to have moved to Asturias with his Brazilian wife, María Cristina Orsi. Authorities described a convoy that included a Mileo 263, a Benimar caravan, and a Jeep Wrangler belonging to the Asturias operation, with El Matador intercepted while transferring the cargo to a trailer. The five primary suspects, aided by attorney Francisco Miranda of the Oviedo law firm VoxLegis, are currently detained in Asturias, kept in separate modules to monitor their communications and thwart coordinated responses.