Dismantled part of the criminal organization led by “El Tigre”, the most active Spanish drug trafficker internationally in cocaine trafficking

The collaboration between the Spanish Civil Guard and the Dubai authorities is giving rise to unprecedented results in the fight against drug trafficking at the international level dismantled part of the criminal organization led by “El Tigre”, the most active Spanish drug trafficker internationally in cocaine trafficking.

The Civil Guard, within the framework of the ATALAYA-III operation, developed by the Civil Guard and directed by the Investigating Court number 1 of Algeciras together with the Special Anti-drug Prosecutor of Campo de Gibraltar, has arrested seven people in the nine searches simultaneous events carried out in different Spanish provinces in November. In addition to these arrests, three international arrest warrants have also been issued.

The detainees are directly related to the introduction of 2,000 kilograms of cocaine through the port of Algeciras two years ago, in a container from Paraguay.
“El Tigre”, the largest known Spanish drug trafficker

The investigation and development of the Civil Guard operation WATCHTOWER-III, carried out with the support of Eurpol, has allowed it to reach the top of the organization, being a milestone of enormous relevance that the Investigating Court No. 1 of Algeciras has completed a international arrest warrant for A.S.V, known as “El Tigre”, head of the investigated organization who was residing in Dubai and on whom there were no drug trafficking charges in Spain to date.

A.S.V is a high-value target for Europol, being considered by the Civil Guard as the most important drug trafficker of Spanish origin globally in terms of cocaine trafficking. This cataloging is due to the volume of drugs that said person was able to manage on a monthly basis, without geographical limits on his activities.

Thanks to this investigation, it was possible to corroborate that “El Tigre” resided in Dubai, from where, through encrypted communication systems, he controlled a global network of cocaine trafficking with a presence on five continents, controlling drug consignments in detail from its origin in South America mainly, until its recovery in ports all over the world.

Arrest and collaboration with Dubai authorities

The Civil Guard had been investigating the possible criminal activity of “El Tigre” for several years, exchanging information with the Dubai Police to try to find his whereabouts, as well as to alert the authorities of that city-emirate of Dubai. potential and dangerousness of this person and his organization.

“El Tigre” in Dubai led a very high-level life, going unnoticed among the rest of the population, with exemplary behavior, not having any type of incident that could alert the local police forces.

Despite this, at the end of last August, the Dubai Police arrested him due to an internal investigation, quickly bringing these facts to the attention of the Civil Guard.

Thanks to the close collaboration between the Civil Guard and the Dubai Emirate Police, unprecedented police successes are being achieved, carrying out coordinated operations between the two bodies that are allowing the most important criminal organizations, which until now, were considered the Emirate as a sanctuary for the world’s biggest drug traffickers.

These successes have been made tangible not only by the arrest of “El Tigre”, but also by the recent arrests of 2 other high value targets (HVT) that were being investigated by the Civil Guard in the framework of Operation FAUKAS and that was part of a EUROPOL operation called DESSERT LIGHT, which has made it possible to arrest some of the biggest drug traffickers who were taking refuge in Dubai.