Police in Spain have arrested 10 individuals of Syrian origin believed to be part of a network that financed Al Qaeda militants in Syria. Spain’s interior ministry said that the 10 are Spaniards of Syrian origin.
With Europol’s collaboration, more than 350 agents took part in an operation in Madrid, further south in Toledo and the eastern province of Valencia. Fourteen homes and other premises were searched by officers.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the organization was led by a family clan that for years allegedly used a legal business structure to hide illicit operations with which they evaded tax authorities and laundered large amounts of money.
The network used elaborate methods to send the money that more difficult to trace than bank transfers. Most notably they used human couriers and the “hawala” system, an informal method of payment based on trust.
The operation comes just weeks after a Syrian man was detained on suspicion of funneling money to European militants linked to the ISIS so that they could return to Europe.
