Introducción de droga en España a través de falsos viajeros en Barajas

The National Police and the Civil Guard have carried out a joint operation to dismantle a criminal organization dedicated to the distribution of narcotic substances that they introduced into Spain using vulnerable individuals whom they hired for around 10,000 euros to pick up suitcases loaded with drugs at Adolfo Suárez-Madrid Barajas Airport.

In total, 30 people have been arrested (21 men and nine women) aged between 21 and 46, including the leaders of the organization.

The detainees are charged with crimes against public health, electricity fraud, and membership in a criminal group, and have been sent to prison by the competent judicial authority.

During the investigations, over 790 kilos of cocaine that they were trying to introduce into Spain through Barajas were also seized.

To achieve this, they purchased low-cost plane tickets so that third parties could legally access the airport and, once there, receive instructions via mobile phone on how to proceed with the retrieval of luggage loaded with drugs.

Up to 10,000 euros for retrieving the suitcases

The investigations began in September 2024, when agents observed different individuals entering the airport with valid flight tickets but then not using them to board the planes, instead heading directly to the baggage claim area, as highlighted by the National Police and the Civil Guard in separate statements.

After collecting the luggage, these individuals would leave the airport normally and, once they passed through the exit control, they would meet with other members of the organization who were waiting for them outside the airport to pick them up in vehicles and accompany them to the properties where they stored the merchandise.

The ‘rescuers‘, a term used to refer to those who retrieved the suitcases, received up to 10,000 euros for retrieving the suitcases.

The first arrests took place at the beginning of the same month of September, when three men and two women were arrested while attempting to leave Barajas with over 150 kilos of cocaine in suitcases.

‘Operation Sonseca Rice’

Security forces carried out a coordinated search at six residences in various locations in Madrid and Guadalajara, where another 13 people were arrested, nine mobile phones and five vehicles were seized, along with 50,000 euros in cash. A marijuana plantation was also dismantled in what the Civil Guard has named ‘Operation Sonseca Rice‘.