Algeria Gate: A Spanish judicial investigation has revealed an organized criminal network suspected of managing large-scale operations to smuggle large quantities of hashish from Morocco to Spain for sale and the laundering of the proceeds through financial and real estate deals. The case remains open before the Spanish National Court.
The Spanish newspaper El Español, citing the judicial investigation published the day before yesterday (Monday), reported that the file involves 22 people under investigation, 14 of whom are in pretrial detention, on suspicion of belonging to a criminal organization, drug trafficking, and money laundering. The newspaper relies on judicial documents and data from the investigation.
The starting point of the case was Operation “Caldo,” carried out by the Spanish Anti-Drug and Organized Crime Unit in September 2022, which dismantled an informal financial network of the “hawala” type, described by Spanish authorities at the time as a financial structure linked to drug networks in Europe.
Encrypted communications obtained by investigators via the EncroChat and Sky ECC platforms revealed names and networks linked to drug trafficking, its financing, and the laundering of its proceeds. From this financial investigation, a thread led investigators to Juan Carlos, known as “Moreno,” after his name appeared using this financial network to finance his drug trafficking activity.
Following this thread led to a broader investigation into his activity, which, according to the Spanish prosecution, revealed the continuation of his large-scale drug trafficking.
According to the judicial investigation, “Moreno” leads an organized criminal structure that imports large quantities of hashish from Morocco, receives it, distributes it, and manages the resulting profits. Documents cited by El Español indicate that the network was capable of moving thousands of kilograms of Moroccan hashish weekly, with its activity extending to several Spanish provinces before the drugs were transported to Madrid for distribution to clients.
Morocco appears in the investigation as the source of the drugs in this pathway. The investigations identified a person known as “El Loco,” a Moroccan national holding Spanish citizenship, as the presumed supplier of the hashish obtained by the network. The newspaper reported that this person fled to Morocco to avoid the execution of a prison sentence issued against him by the Spanish National Court.
Judicial documents reveal that the network’s activity was organized in stages, beginning with the reception of hashish shipments, their storage, transport, and distribution, and ending with the management and laundering of the money obtained from the trafficking. According to the investigation, the network also used properties in Madrid and Andalusia to store the drugs, while authorities seized more than two tons of hashish in one of the properties searched in Madrid.
