arrest of 21 suspects for offences including participation in a criminal organisation, drug trafficking and money laundering
The investigation, led by the Spanish National Police (Policía Nacional) and supported by Europol, has resulted in the arrest of 21 suspects for offences including participation in a criminal organisation, drug trafficking and money laundering.
An action day carried out in Spain on 22 July 2026 resulted in the arrest of 15 suspects. Spanish authorities also issued 19 international arrest warrants against suspects located outside the country. Six of these warrants have since been executed, resulting in four arrests in the United Arab Emirates, one in Egypt and one in the Netherlands.
Among those arrested is a leading figure in a major underground banking network known as the “Dubai Bank”. Identified by Europol as a High Value Target, the suspect is believed to have played a key role in providing financial services for major drug trafficking operations worldwide.
Authorities have identified, seized or frozen assets worth approximately EUR 20 million. These include 48 properties valued at more than EUR 14 million, high-end vehicles worth over EUR 1.6 million and 121 bank accounts containing EUR 2.3 million.
Cocaine investigation leads to the money
Operation DRAKKAR grew out of an investigation into a major cocaine shipment intercepted by the Spanish National Police in February 2021. Officers boarded a vessel in waters off the Spanish coast and discovered 1 835 kilograms of cocaine. All nine crew members were arrested. After the crew and drugs had been removed, the vessel was towed to the port of Gijón, Spain. The ship subsequently sank after taking on water through a leak allegedly caused by its captain.
Investigators later discovered why: another 1 650 kilograms of cocaine had been concealed on board. Members of the criminal network are suspected of subsequently entering the sunken vessel and recovering the hidden shipment. It was established that both cocaine shipments had been loaded in South America in January 2021. The plan was to transfer the drugs at sea to high-speed boats, which would then bring the cocaine ashore in Spain.
The investigation into those behind the shipment gradually led investigators further up the criminal chain. Links were established to other suspected drug trafficking operations around the world, while following the financial trail exposed the individuals suspected of financing the shipments and laundering the proceeds.
This ultimately led investigators to a sophisticated international financial infrastructure used to provide underground banking services to organised crime.
The “Dubai Bank”
At the heart of the investigation was a clandestine money-transfer network referred to as the “Dubai Bank”. The network is suspected of making large amounts of money available to criminal organisations in different countries within very short periods of time, providing the financial infrastructure needed to fund major drug shipments and move the resulting criminal proceeds.
Rather than physically transferring money across borders for every transaction, underground banking networks can move value between jurisdictions through networks of brokers. Payments can be settled through internal accounting and compensation mechanisms, including trade transactions, companies and their bank accounts, cash pooling or transfers of other assets.
The network operated on a commission basis, with fees varying depending on the transaction and other factors.
Investigators also identified the use of tokens to authenticate cash transactions. A unique identifier, frequently the serial number of a banknote, could be passed through the transfer chain. Presenting the matching identifier when collecting the cash allowed those involved to verify that the money was being handed to the intended recipient.
The financial investigation also identified assets suspected of having been acquired using illicit funds, including a luxury property in Ibiza.
Europol support
Europol has supported the investigation by facilitating international information exchange and providing operational and financial analysis that helped identify key money brokers within the network. Since October 2024, the investigation has also been supported through an Operational Taskforce set up at Europol.
Europol provided specialised expertise on underground banking, and asset tracing and recovery. Specialists were deployed to Spain for the action day, where a money laundering specialist supported investigators on the ground with a mobile office.
Given the global reach of the network, international cooperation was central to the investigation. Authorities from the Netherlands, Sweden and the United States, including the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), contributed to the investigation.
Empact
The European Multidisciplinary Platform Against Criminal Threats (EMPACT) tackles the most important threats posed by organised and serious international crime affecting the EU. EMPACT strengthens intelligence, strategic and operational cooperation between national authorities, EU institutions and bodies, and international partners. EMPACT runs in four-year cycles focusing on common EU crime priorities.
