An organization that illegally exported motorcycles and mopeds to Africa and European countries dismantled
A large displacement motorcycle is sold in Antananarivo, the capital of Madagascar. It is a red BMW K75 and 750 cubic centimeters. An old model, from the 90s. A motorcycle that is no longer manufactured and that arrives to that African island of second or third hand from Europewhere they have been getting rid of them for a long time.
In fact, that particular motorcycle should already be destroyed. Because what its new owner doesn’t know is that he is driving an old BMW from the Foral Police Navarre. A vehicle that has arrived in Africa illegally, sent by members of a criminal network that operated from a scrapyard in Madrid and that has just been dismantled by the Civil Guard.
Red motorcycles from the Navarrese police, white and blue from their counterparts from the Madrid Local Police or yellow from the Post Office. These are some of the units that this criminal group declared as decommissioned and destroyed. Then they restored them, they pitted the chassis (like any stolen vehicle) and sold them in European and African countries.
EL PERIÓDICO DE ESPAÑA, from the Prensa Ibérica Group, has spoken with the Armed Institute about ‘Operation Injini’, an intervention in which a total of 25 people were arrested, belonging to a gang that had its base of operations in a scrapyard legal. An Authorized Center for the Treatment of Vehicles (CAT) located in the Aimayr industrial estate on the M-841 highway, in San Martín de la Vega.
From Poland to Mauritania
The organization used a network of companies linked to the management of this type of vehicle, mainly motorcycles and mopeds, distributed throughout several Spanish provinces, to illegally export them as second-hand vehicles to three European countries (Italy, Portugal and Poland). ) and five Africans: Morocco, Senegal, Nigeria, Mauritania and Madagascar, as reported by the Civil Guard, which adds that some pieces were also sold in Spanish territory.
This company would have been acquiring discarded motorcycles and mopeds. By considering it hazardous waste, they pretended to process its supposed management as waste. But instead of decontaminating them and selling them for parts, They were exported as second-hand vehicles. They were transported complete, and declared as second-hand goods, thus avoiding export prohibitions for hazardous waste.
The vehicles were purchased as waste at a very low price and were sold without undergoing any type of treatment as second-hand vehicles, which considerably increased the profit margin. Furthermore, these services were not declared as part of the company’s legal activity, which there was, thus defrauding the public treasury and managing to increase profits.
Hierarchies
This gang, which has had four detonation weapons seized, It had a perfectly organized and hierarchical criminal structureat the top of which were two company administrators, who were responsible for directing, coordinating and planning all irregular activities.
Under his orders were two other people dedicated to administrative and collection tasks. Their work was essential, due to the high number of vehicles that had entry into the CAT, to register, structure and account for the different items. It has been confirmed how there were two accounts: one official and the other hidden, the latter used to derive benefits without contributing to the taxes required by tax regulations.
A third echelon, also within the company, was made up of 10 operators who carried out the work of handling the waste, removed chassis numbers and license plates from motorcyclesso that they could not be related to the CAT after their sale, nor to their corresponding Certificate of Destruction, since some of the motorcycles even came from theft.
The last element was made up of a series of clients and transporters who were responsible for the illicit acquisition and transfer of these vehicles. This network of suppliers would have contributed almost 300 tons of motorcycles to the central core of the band. and mopeds at the end of their useful life (some of them belonging to the Security Forces and Bodies) without treatment and without authorization, nor complying with the mandatory procedures.
Labor exploitation
The company has also been investigated for a crime against workers’ rights, since part of the staff were workers, without an employment contract. Most payments were made in cash and without invoices. In addition, they had a large number of hazardous waste stored. in plots without authorization that exceeded the maximum time allowed for this type of storage.
This irregular practice would have generated a high level of profit for the members of the organization, who enjoyed a high standard of living and had acquired numerous personal and real estate assets, opening investment funds and high-end vehicles, in addition to being used for social capital in the constitution of other legal entities that swelled the corporate fabric. Assets worth 5 million euros have been identified, which is currently under judicial control.
The investigation has resulted in the arrest of 25 natural persons and the investigation of another 5 legal entities and in the associated economic investigation, it has been verified that, only in the time that the investigation has elapsed, The criminal network would have obtained an illicit benefit of more than half a million euros.
In the various searches, a large amount of documentary and computer material has been seized to analyze, nearly 4,000 euros in cash and a machine for counting banknotes, in addition to several weapons and ammunition. The detainees are charged with various crimes against natural resources and the environment, membership in a criminal organization, money laundering, falsification of documents, against workers’ rights, against the Public Treasury and against Social Security, among others.