Twenty-one suspects have been arrested and assets worth around €20 million identified in an international investigation into an underground banking system allegedly used to finance major cocaine shipments and launder the proceeds of organised crime.
Spain’s National Police have dismantled a financial network linked to a so-called ‘Dubai Bank’, an illicit money-transfer operation suspected of providing banking services to some of the world’s most significant drug-trafficking organisations.
The name refers to the network’s connection to Dubai, where according to the Spanish police its leading broker was based and from where he allegedly helped finance cocaine shipments around the world. Despite its name, the ‘Dubai Bank’ was not a conventional financial institution, but an underground money-transfer system that allowed criminal organisations to access large sums in different countries without relying on ordinary international bank transfers.
The investigation, supported by Europol and police forces in several countries, has resulted in 21 arrests and the identification, seizure or freezing of assets worth approximately €20 million. Among those detained is a leading figure in the underground banking network whom Europol had classified as a high-value target.
Spanish police announced the results on Tuesday, following an operation that began with the interception of a cocaine-laden vessel more than five years ago.
According to the Spanish police briefing, 14 suspects were arrested in Spain and seven others in the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, the Netherlands and Sweden. Nineteen international arrest warrants have been issued, with seven executed, while 12 suspects remain at large.
From a sunken cocaine ship to an international banking network
The investigation began in February 2021, when Spanish police intercepted the vessel Nehir off the Spanish coast and discovered 1,835 kg of cocaine. All nine crew members were arrested.
After the drugs and crew had been removed, the vessel was towed to the port of Gijón, in northern Spain. It subsequently sank after taking on water through a leak allegedly caused by its captain.
Investigators later established that a further 1,650 kg of cocaine had been concealed on board. Members of the criminal organisation are suspected of subsequently entering the sunken vessel and recovering the hidden consignment.
Both shipments had been loaded in South America in January 2021. The original plan, according to Europol, was to transfer the cocaine at sea to high-speed boats, which would then transport it to the Spanish coast.
The investigation into those responsible for the shipment gradually expanded beyond the vessel and its immediate organisers. By tracing the money behind the operation, police identified connections to other suspected drug-trafficking activities around the world and eventually uncovered the network believed to have financed shipments and laundered their proceeds.
How the ‘Dubai Bank’ allegedly operated
The clandestine network is suspected of making large amounts of money available to criminal organisations in different countries at short notice, allowing traffickers to finance shipments without relying on conventional international banking transfers.
Rather than physically moving cash across borders for every transaction, underground banking systems can transfer value through networks of brokers. Payments may be balanced through internal accounting, commercial transactions, companies and their bank accounts, cash pools or transfers of other assets.
Investigators believe the ‘Dubai Bank’ operated on a commission basis, with fees varying according to the nature of the transaction. Cryptocurrency was also used to settle transactions and move value internationally.
Police identified a system of tokens used to authenticate cash handovers. A unique identifier, often the serial number of a banknote, could be passed along the transfer chain. The person collecting the money would present the matching identifier to confirm that the cash was being delivered to the intended recipient.
The network’s importance lay in its ability to provide the financial infrastructure behind large-scale trafficking operations, according to Spanish investigators.
‘Without this financing, these shipments could not be moved from one country to another. Drug trafficking on this scale would not be possible,’ chief anti-money laundering inspector Encarna Ortega told reporters.
Properties, bank accounts and luxury assets
Authorities have identified, seized or frozen assets worth approximately €20 million during the investigation.
These include 48 properties valued at more than €14 million, luxury vehicles worth over €1.6 million and 121 bank accounts containing €2.3 million. Investigators also identified assets suspected of having been acquired with illicit funds, including a luxury property in Ibiza.
The operation has established links between the financial network and four prominent suspected drug traffickers. One of those identified is a Spaniard known by the nickname ‘El Tigre’ (‘The Tiger’), who remains wanted by police.
International investigation remains open
The operation was coordinated by the Special Anti-Drugs Prosecutor’s Office of Spain’s National High Court and involved the National Police’s financial crime unit, UDEF, and its organised crime and drugs unit, UDYCO.
Europol supported the investigation through international information exchange, operational and financial analysis, and specialist expertise in underground banking and asset tracing. Since October 2024, the case has also been supported by an Operational Task Force established at Europol.
Specialists from several countries contributed to the investigation, including authorities in the Netherlands, Sweden and the United States. Spanish police also reported cooperation with officers from Belgium and the United Kingdom, including Police Scotland, as part of the wider international effort.
Europol deployed specialists to Spain for the operation, including a money-laundering expert who assisted investigators on the ground through a mobile office.
The investigation remains open, and authorities have not ruled out further arrests or operations in Spain and other countries.
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