An international criminal organisation accused of recruiting vulnerable people in Colombia and transporting them to Spain for labour exploitation has been dismantled following a joint police investigation.
Operation Aguazul-Napoleón was conducted by Spain’s Guardia Civil and National Police in cooperation with the Colombian National Police. The investigation, which began in 2023, has resulted in 30 arrests and the identification of 57 potential trafficking victims.
The organisation allegedly targeted people experiencing severe economic or social hardship, offering them false promises of employment and improved living conditions in Spain.
In many cases, the group arranged and paid for the victims’ travel, creating debts that were subsequently used to control and intimidate them.
Once they arrived in Spain, other members of the organisation allegedly transported them to restaurants, primarily in Tarragona and Madrid. Investigators say the victims were subjected to exploitative working conditions and told they had to continue working to repay the cost of their journey.
Police described the organisation as a structured and hierarchical network, with members performing clearly defined roles during the recruitment, transportation and exploitation process.
The first phase of the operation took place in April 2024, followed by a second intervention in July 2025. Those investigations focused on the organisation’s activities in Spain and resulted in 22 arrests and the discovery of 57 potential victims.
InformationInvestigators then examined evidence gathered during the raids and statements provided by those affected. This led officers to identify a permanent recruitment network operating from Colombia.
During the latest phase, three suspects were arrested in Tarragona under international arrest warrants issued by the Colombian authorities. They were two women, aged 54 and 41, of Spanish and Colombian nationality respectively, and a 45-year-old Colombian man.
All three were brought before Spain’s National Court, which is responsible for handling proceedings relating to international arrest and extradition requests.
At the same time, Colombian police carried out four searches in Bogotá and arrested four people suspected of belonging to the organisation’s recruitment structure.
The third phase in Spain was conducted jointly by the Guardia Civil’s Judicial Police Unit in Tarragona and the National Police unit responsible for tackling immigration networks and document fraud.
Police said close international cooperation was essential to reconstructing the organisation’s complete operation, identifying those responsible and intervening at every stage—from the initial recruitment of victims in Colombia to their alleged exploitation in Spain.
Operation Aguazul-Napoleón has now officially concluded. Evidence seized during the investigation has been placed at the disposal of the relevant judicial authorities.
The allegations against those detained remain subject to judicial proceedings.
