Institutional disgrace: Mallorcan anti-narcotics boss arrested

What many believe was only true in countries like Mexico, where alliances between drug cartels and the highest levels of government are corroding politics and society, has just happened in Mallorca, where an anti-narcotics chief has been arrested for laundering illicitly obtained money.

A joint operation between the National Police and the Civil Guard has led to the arrest of 13 people for belonging to a money laundering business network stemming from drug trafficking. Among those arrested is Faustino Nogales, former head of the National Police’s Narcotics Unit in the Balearic Islands.

Others arrested include lawyer Gonzalo Márquez and the leader of the United Tribuns motorcycle gang, Stefan Milojevic. As reported by Última Hora, the latter, the son of a former RC Mallorca player, had already been implicated in other police operations against drug trafficking.

Police search several homes

The operation began on Monday morning with simultaneous searches of law offices and homes located in various areas of the island, including Palma, Binissalem, and Inca. During the operation, 13 people suspected of involvement in money laundering were arrested.

The arrests are motivated by money laundering, but progress is not ruled out in the investigation, which remains under summary secrecy, involving alleged crimes of drug trafficking, arms trafficking, bribery, and membership in a criminal organisation.

Police are investigating Nogales’ alleged involvement in the criminal network. They seek to find the links between the former police chief and other parts of the criminal enterprise, such as the drug trafficking operations, that enabled money laundering. His possible links to the other detainees are also being analysed, with a focus on the biker, Infobae informed.

Police raid former police boss’s home

On Tuesday, August 12th, police searched the home of  Nogales, as part of their investigation that included searches in other dwellings across Palma, Binissalem and Inca.

This is the second high-profile arrest of a Spanish police officer in a money laundering case recently, following the detention of Chief Inspector Óscar Sánchez Gil in November 2024, where €20 million was found in his home.

The United Tribuns gang with which Nogales allegedly works is a biker gang linked to controlling drug trafficking in nightclubs, brothels, and clandestine parties in Mallorca, which was the target of a National Police operation in January 2020, during which it was allegedly dismantled. The investigation suggests that Milojevic led this group.

Most of those arrested are linked to the United Tribuns. Stefan Milojevic, son of former Real Mallorca player Goran Milojevic, was arrested in 2020 in a National Police operation seeking to disband the organisation.