Millions Seized in Gibraltar Money Laundering Operations

Since 2016, the Gibraltar Money Laundering Investigation Unit has seized almost 2.4 million euros, as well as luxury yachts and apartments, from the proceeds of organised crime. Chief Inspector Tunbridge of the Economic Crimes Unit has attributed a collaborative relationship with Spain to its success, but admits that Brexit has made investigations all the more difficult.

A huge amount of drugs is trafficked from Morocco to Spain, and foreign criminal organisations have money laundering through illegal activities in Gibraltar down to a fine art. Mr Tunbridge explained that criminals know very well that if they commit a crime in one country and launder their money in another, it is far trickier for security forces to get hold of their cash.

For this reason, it is vital that the Spanish authorities share any information on illegal activity in Spain that may impact Gibraltar.

The Chief Inspector confirmed that authorities on The Rock have a very good relationship with Spain “and several of the money laundering cases that we have dealt with, and others that are ongoing, are due to collaboration between the two”.

Unfortunately, since the UK left the EU, cooperation between Gibraltar and European security entities has been made more difficult as the local police force no longer has direct access to the European Investigation Order, an invaluable tool for gathering evidence in cross-border cases.

Article credit: https://spanishnewstoday.com/millions-seized-in-gibraltar-money-laundering-operations_1716226-a.html