The money laundering network of the Sánchez Castro brothers’ organization has been dismantled
The Civil Guard, as part of Operation “Omnis”, in collaboration with Europol, has dismantled the economic and corporate structure allegedly used by the criminal organization linked to the brothers José Carlos and Antonio Jesús Sánchez Castro to hide the profits from international cocaine trafficking and give them the appearance of legality.
The operation is part of an investigation into the organization’s assets, which has identified a network of shell companies, intermediaries, and financial transactions with no real economic activity, through which more than 8.6 million euros have been laundered.
The operation resulted in the arrest of 44 people, 12 people remanded in custody, 18 house searches in several Spanish provinces, and the freezing of accounts, companies, properties, and vehicles linked to the organization.
Payment of bail with funds of allegedly illicit origin
One of the main findings of the investigation has been the detection of more than three million euros intended for the payment of judicial bail for members of the organization arrested in Operation “Jumita”.
Investigations have shown that the money circulated between different companies through simulated operations, such as loans or fictitious invoicing, until it reached the accounts from which the payments were made in court.
Thus, funds allegedly from drug trafficking would have been used to facilitate the provisional release of members of the organization.
Shell companies and complex financial transactions
Furthermore, the investigation has made it possible to identify a network of companies with no real activity, many of them without employees, with fictitious addresses or managed by intermediaries.
These structures were used to move funds and obscure their traceability through transfers between accounts, fragmented transactions, unpaid loans, and international movements without commercial justification. Transactions involving cryptocurrencies, used to further increase the opacity of the funds, have also been detected.
Continuity of operations at JUMITA and GOODBYE
Operation OMNIS continues the investigations that began with Operation JUMITA (2021), in which 29 people were arrested, more than 1,600 kilograms of cocaine and 16.5 million euros in cash were seized.
Subsequently, Operation GOODBYE (2024) linked the same organization to five attempts to smuggle 3,400 kilograms of cocaine through the Port of Algeciras, resulting in 22 arrests. Since then, three of its main leaders remain at large internationally.
Economic dimension of research
For the analysis of the financial flow, the Civil Guard examined 478 bank accounts and more than 228,000 transactions, corresponding to 2022-2024. The total volume of transactions analyzed exceeds 532 million euros, although the amount attributed to money laundering amounts to more than 8.6 million euros. Furthermore, the judicial authority has ordered the freezing of accounts belonging to 32 individuals and 26 companies, as well as prohibiting the disposal of 42 properties and 17 vehicles.
