The National Police has dismantled a criminal group organized and dedicated to multiple criminal activities that operated in Cantabria, specifically in Santander and neighboring municipalities, through two interrelated operations that have allowed the detention of 21 men, between 20 and 67 years old, and two of them have been imprisoned.
The delegate of the Government in Cantabria, Ainoa Quiñones, announced on Tuesday the two operations developed by the National Police in Cantabria and the investigations carried out until culminating in the dismantling of this important criminal group.
He has done so in a press conference with the Superior Chief of Police, Carmen Martínez; the regional head of Operations, Commissioner Juan Félix Martínez Díaz-Capilla; and the head of the Provincial Brigade of the Judicial Police, Paz López, as well as members of the Narcotics and Robbery operative groups.
Quiñones has praised “the great work carried out by the National Police in these operations with which a criminal group dedicated especially to drug trafficking and robberies has been dismantled.”
He has detailed that, with the dismantling of this group, 18 criminal acts have been clarified so far and five points of sale and distribution of cocaine and hashish that were supplied in and around Santander have been eradicated, and numerous weapons have also been removed from the streets.
The two operations, called ‘Garden’ and ‘Platinium’ and which are related to each other, have involved a complex police operation in which members of the Judicial Police Brigade have participated, through the groups of narcotics and robberies; the Prevention and Reaction Unit (UPR), the Citizen Assistance Group (GAC) and the Canine Guides Unit, as well as the Special Security Operative Group (GOES) of the Basque Country.
The delegate of the Government has pointed out that the investigation was initiated in January 2022 by the Judicial Police Brigade following a complaint of a robbery with force in the area of Nueva Montaña, in Santander.
“After this robbery, the agents of the specialized robbery group managed to identify the alleged perpetrators and, in the follow-up, they verified that their criminal activities extended to other areas such as crimes against heritage and drug trafficking,” he said.
Thus, from this initial operation, called ‘Garden’, it has indicated that the investigation was extended to a greater group of people and another parallel investigation was opened in the operative group of Narcotics for drug trafficking, and that it was called Operation Platinum.
Within the framework of the same, it was possible to identify several people dedicated to the sale and distribution of drugs, specifically cocaine and hashish, and who were very active both in the municipality of Santander and in neighboring areas, highlighting as ringleaders two males.
In addition, some of those involved in drug trafficking also included a criminal group specializing in robbery, scams, misappropriation and illegal possession of weapons, which operated not only in Cantabria but also in Asturias.
SEARCHES, ARRESTS AND SEIZURES
With all this information collected, the National Police requested judicial authorization to intervene and on December 21, 10 searches were carried out in 9 homes and a commercial premises, located in both Santander and Camargo, and 15 men were arrested.
The following day, on December 22, three other people were arrested in Maliaño and Santander and between January 2 and 13, three other men have been arrested in the Cantabrian capital as part of these two operations, which are still open.
Of the 21 detainees, 15 had police records. All of them have already been brought to justice and two have been imprisoned.
In the records made in the framework of both operations, 620 grams of hashish, various amounts of marijuana and cocaine, as well as four catanas, a firearm (rifle) and multiple and varied white weapons have been seized.
There has also been a virola, eleven mobile phones, a baseball bat, a bulletproof vest, 1,135 euros in legal currency, as well as numerous instruments aimed at drug trafficking and a large number of tools aimed at theft with force.
Both the delegate of the Government and the police officers have highlighted the importance of citizen collaboration, as well as the filing of complaints against any criminal act since, in this case, two important operations have been carried out as a result of a complaint.