'El Pablo' and the 20 members of his clan are released

PalmaDrug trafficker Pablo Campos Maya, known as 'El Pablo', and the other 20 members of his clan arrested this week for their alleged involvement in a money laundering scheme from drug trafficking have been released on provisional bail.

The judge has imposed several precautionary measures on the leader of the organization and eleven other people who appeared before the court in Palma this Friday morning, according to sources close to the investigation who confirmed this to Europa Press.

The other nine people arrested by the National Police and the Tax Agency's Customs Surveillance Service were released after testifying at the police station, according to the same sources. The fact that they did not appear before the court does not, however, mean that they are no longer under investigation in a case in which they are accused of alleged crimes of money laundering and belonging to a criminal organization. The police operation, carried out throughout this week and which remains open, has so far resulted in 21 arrests. In addition, officers have seized vehicles, jewelry, firearms, and drugs, and have embargoed 48 properties.

Laundering of 20 million euros to buy houses in La Soledat

The investigation focuses on the alleged laundering of 20 million euros from drug trafficking, which the clan reportedly used to buy dozens of houses in the Palma neighborhood of La Soledat, their center of operations for years.

Agents have verified that members of the organization acquired, one after another, the houses located in the vicinity of 'El Pablo's' home. After buying them, they renovated them clandestinely and joined them together to create large dwellings and drug points of sale protected with armored doors and reinforced walls. The residence of the main suspect is an example of this. The property had 1,400 square meters, a swimming pool, a garage, and a possible escape tunnel that could have been used in case of need.

However, the land registry records did not show any property with these characteristics, but rather the nine houses that originally occupied the plot. The properties were in the name of 'El Pablo', his wife, and other relatives. Operation Tsunami and Operation Galba, two parallel investigations that have converged in this joint operation, have allowed investigators to delve into the clan's assets and the alleged maneuvers to hide the origin of the money obtained from the sale of drugs.