Inside ICE: Volume 2, Issue 21

ICE, Partners Break International Cocaine Ring

Madrid, Spain—ICE agents, working with agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), officials from Spain’s Guardia Civil and Canada’s Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), have dismantled an international drug trafficking ring that was attempting to smuggle 1,000 kilograms of cocaine into Spain.

Four Canadian nationals have been detained in Spain, and the 1,000 kilograms of cocaine have been seized, along with several high-performance vehicles, computer equipment, and an undetermined amount of cash.

The investigation began in May 2005 when ICE and DEA agents learned that a drug trafficking organization led by Canadians was attempting to move the cocaine from the Caribbean to Spain for later distribution throughout the European Union. Because the targets were Canadian and because one was considered the largest drug trafficker in Canada, ICE and DEA agents requested the help of Canadian authorities.

In August, after it was confirmed that the destination of the cocaine shipment was Spain, U.S. and Canadian authorities contacted Spain’s Guardia Civil and that agency joined the investigation.

In late September, the Guardia Civil detected members of the drug trafficking organization in the province of Gerona, Spain. With the assistance of U.S. and Canadian authorities, Spanish officials learned that other members of the organization would be arriving in Spain from Canada in early October. Members of the organization were being closely monitored in both Canada and Spain.

The take down began October 6 in Cambrils, Spain, where members of the organization were detained as they attempted to move the cocaine from one place to another. Authorities also detained the leader of the organization who had traveled to Spain in order to coordinate both the sale of the drugs and the laundering of the proceeds from those sales.

An analysis of documentation seized by authorities revealed that this organization operated not only in Spain, but also in Holland, France, The United Kingdom and Ireland, as well as in the United States and Canada.

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