Operación Dragón was not a lucky break. It was a two-year infiltration.
For decades, the rugged Rías Baixas (lower estuaries) of Galicia in northwestern Spain were the heroin gateway to Europe. Unlike the flashy cartels of Colombia or Mexico, the Galician clans were insular, secretive, and fiercely loyal. They were fishermen who simply changed their cargo from sardines to cocaine. Operacion Dragon
The dragon was slain, but the lesson remains: along the coast of Galicia, when the fog rolls in and a fishing boat runs without lights, old habits die hard. Operación Dragón was not a lucky break
The Civil Guard knew they couldn't beat the clans at sea, so they beat them on land. Using wiretaps and a paid informant inside the Charlines organization, agents learned the critical detail: the clans were moving away from heroin to cocaine, and they had bought a state-of-the-art freezer trawler. Unlike the flashy cartels of Colombia or Mexico,