In the municipality of Huércal-Overa in the province of Almería, police conducted a large-scale operation that led to the shutdown of a major logistics hub used by an international group specializing in illegal auto trafficking. This organization, closely linked to France, used the Spanish region as a transit point for shipping luxury vehicles abroad.
As part of the operation, dubbed “Guajira,” law enforcement worked in coordination with colleagues from Catalonia and the tax authorities. Thanks to a carefully planned approach, fifteen premium-class vehicles were recovered and returned, with a total value exceeding 300,000 euros. For the province of Almería, this marked the largest seizure of vehicles in recent years.
During the raids, three men were arrested: one from Mali and two Gambian nationals. They face charges of membership in a criminal organization, vehicle theft, and smuggling. The investigation began after police recorded a surge in the thefts of a certain high-end car brand, which had become especially popular on the African market.
The investigation led officers to an industrial facility in Huércal-Overa, where the vehicles were being prepared for further shipment. The cars were carefully concealed and placed into shipping containers to be transported to the port of Banjul in Gambia. On August 6, police officers inspected four suspicious containers at the port of Castellón, where they discovered all fifteen vehicles stolen from various cities in Andalusia and Murcia.
That same day, a warehouse search uncovered not only equipment for loading and securing cars but also mobile phones and documents revealing the organization’s extensive network. All those arrested were handed over to the first instance court in Huércal-Overa, where preventive measures were imposed. The operation dealt a serious blow to the criminal network’s logistics, but the investigation continues: Spanish and international law enforcement are working to fully expose and dismantle the group’s main base in France.
