Seven arrested following raids on Spanish drug trafficking network with 1,700 kg confiscated
Bucharest Court has ordered the preventive arrest of seven people under investigation for drug trafficking and money laundering. The group was transporting hundreds of kilograms of cocaine and cannabis from Spain to Europe.
Pyramid-structured narcotrafficking network dismantled following investigations in six European countries
Seven people were ordered into preventive arrest on Tuesday by a judge of rights and freedoms at Bucharest Court, following raids carried out on Monday against a criminal group specialising in drug transport from Spain, Romanian Police announced on Wednesday. The information was taken from a statement transmitted by Agerpres.
The seven are being investigated for the formation of an organised criminal group, trafficking in high-risk and major-risk drugs in continuous form, and money laundering.
16 raids in six counties
On Monday, prosecutors from DIICOT's Anti-Drug Trafficking Division, together with officers from the Anti-Organised Crime Directorate — Anti-Drug Service, executed 16 raids at the residences of private individuals and at the headquarters of legal entities in several counties.
Raids took place in Timișoara, Satu Mare, Oradea and Câmpulung Moldovenesc, as well as in the counties of Maramureș and Mehedinți.
Documents were seized, 54 gold and silver coins, a bullion bar, a luxury watch, sums of money in lei, euros, dollars and forints, a rifle with a silencer and data storage devices. Additionally, a precautionary seizure measure was instituted over moveable and immoveable property valued at approximately €400,000 — four immoveable properties and one luxury motor vehicle — and over 27 bank accounts opened in the names of the people under investigation.
Structure of the group: lorries with hidden compartments
According to investigators, the group was formed in September 2023, when four men and a commercial company with an international transport profile established a pyramid-type organised criminal group. Later, other members adhered to it, Romanian and foreign nationals.
The stated purpose of the investigation: transport, from Spain to various European states, of quantities in the hundreds of kilograms of drugs — cannabis resin, cannabis and cocaine — through the use of lorries fitted with hidden compartments.
"Ten other suspects adhered to the organised criminal group, as well as four other commercial companies, involved in the criminal circuit with the purpose of providing legal cover for drug transport, the entire activity of the organised crime group being supported by another suspect, the life partner of one of the leaders", the press office of the General Inspectorate of Romanian Police (IGPR) stated.
Coordination from Romania, execution across Europe
The leaders of the group, based in Romania, received orders from Albanian drug traffickers and transmitted to other members the necessary coordinates for operationalising the transports. These individuals made arrangements for drivers and vehicles, later monitoring, also from Romania, the conduct of the transports.
When transports were intercepted by the authorities of other states, the group became involved in ensuring legal assistance for drivers caught in flagrante delicto and sought access to criminal files to verify whether there was evidence leading to the leaders.
Nearly 1,720 kg of drugs confiscated in four countries
Judicial cooperation carried out between 2023 and 2026, through European Investigation Orders with authorities from France, Spain, Italy and Germany — with the involvement of EUROJUST and EUROPOL — led to the documentation of four intercepted transports.
"The activity of the organised criminal group resulted in the conduct of four transports detected by judicial bodies from France, Germany, Italy and Spain on the basis of evidence and information transmitted by criminal prosecution bodies from Romania — drug transports which led to the seizure of 114 kg cocaine, 228.219 kg cannabis and 1,376.913 kg cannabis resin (hashish), in total approximately 1,719 kg of drugs, with an estimated value of approximately €9.6 million at wholesale level and approximately €25 million at retail level, according to EUDA market values", the IGPR indicated.
Leader classified as "High Value Target" by EUROPOL
The group offered Albanian drug traffickers drug transport services from the countries of entry into Europe to the final destinations on the continent, depending on orders — an operating model classified by investigators as "crime as a service".
During the course of 2025, the leader of the organised criminal group, a Romanian national, was listed by EUROPOL, at Romania's request, as a "High Value Target" — a person whose criminal activity generates a major, cross-border threat of serious and organised crime to at least two member states of the European Union.
The evidence administered showed that the leader used an encrypted application used by drug traffickers. The respective data were obtained through a European Investigation Order from French authorities and will be used as evidence, in accordance with the jurisprudence of other EU member states, to demonstrate the leader's long-term connections with Albanian narcotrafficking groups, DIICOT explained.
Source: Google News RO — Crime (ro)