Dismantled the “Giggles” gang dedicated to cocaine trafficking in the Campo de Gibraltar

The Spanish Civil Guard, in collaboration with EUROPOL in the so-called Kiken operation, has dismantled a criminal organization dedicated to introducing large amounts of cocaine from South America through the Port of Algeciras. In total, investigators have arrested 30 people, have seized more than 1,000 kilos of cocaine and have carried out 23 house searches in the Cádiz towns of Algeciras, San Roque and Los Barrios.In the records, 10 vehicles, 172,000 euros in cash, 40 kilograms of cocaine, an assault submachine gun and two short firearms, jewelry and watches of high economic value, a large number of cutting tools for opening maritime containers have been intervened. and uniformed port stevedore garments to camouflage inside the container terminals.

Start of investigation

The operation began in September 2022 when investigators detected a group of truckers, all of them under the umbrella of the same Algeciras freight transport company, who would be making use of their work activity to access a Port terminal. and extract cocaine hidden inside the containers. This fact was confirmed in December 2022, when 500 kilos of cocaine were seized at the exit of the Port of Algeciras in nine suitcases hidden in the cabin of a truck. In that action, this trucker and five other people who were traveling in another truck that had accessed the Port terminal at the same time and whose function was to open the container in the same terminal to remove the suitcases and put them in the first truck were arrested. . From that moment, the investigators have identified and located the rest of the members of the organization, including its leaders. In this process, it has been discovered that the organization was led by a well-known Spanish drug trafficker, nicknamed “Risitas”, who during the investigation had been arrested and admitted to a Valencian prison. Likewise, the agents also arrested two lieutenants responsible for the operational and logistics branch of the organization. 

The first of them had the main functions of directing and organizing drug extraction operations, for which he made use of people he trusted. The other lieutenant was the head of operations for a freight transport company in Algeciras, who was in charge of looking for truckers to participate in these operations, for whom he facilitated access to the Terminal using the company’s credentials. The modus operandi was always the same, two trucks entered the terminal of the Port of Algeciras with the appearance of carrying out legal activities. One of them carried the “colla” who, once in the Terminal yard, would open the container to extract the bags containing the cocaine from inside. Next, they loaded the bags onto the second truck, to then leave the Port in the truck they had come on. To support operations inside the Port, the organization had a large number of people who controlled any police movement that could hinder its activities. In addition, it has been possible to identify and arrest those responsible for the drug distribution branch, who divided and cut the merchandise to sell it and supply it at a lower level.

Second botched stash

During the course of the investigation, and when part of the members of the organization were already known, as well as the methodology used, the investigators detected that the criminals were going to make a new stash. Once again, the attempt was frustrated by the investigative unit, which managed to intercept the two trucks, one of which was carrying 500 kilos of cocaine hidden in the cabin, and the “colla” that was trying to leave the Port after extracting the drug. Despite the fact that the leader of the organization was in prison, it has been verified how one of his lieutenants traveled from Algeciras to the Penitentiary Center in Valencia the days prior to these events, to coordinate the details of the operations. Finally, and after managing to identify all the components of the criminal organization, as well as the role they played, the exploitation phase of the investigation took place in which 23 house searches were carried out and 30 people were arrested. In the records, 10 vehicles, 172,000 euros in cash, 40 kilograms of cocaine, an assault submachine gun and two short firearms, jewelry and watches of high economic value, a large number of cutting tools for opening maritime containers have been intervened. and uniformed port stevedore garments to camouflage inside the container terminals.