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A diver known as Aquaman who ran drugs for a Brazilian gang in a complex operation involving cargo ships is caught by authorities.
A 34-year-old Spaniard known as Aquaman due to his diving skills who was involved with a complex international drug smuggling operation that used submerged boxes on Brazilian cargo ships has been caught by local authorities.
Joaquín Francisco Gimenez, who also goes by Pollo, has been dubbed the “Aquaman of Crime,” according to Globo.com. Gimenez used his skill in deep-sea diving and knowledge of ship structures to help local crime boss Marcos Camacho smuggle cocaine overseas. Packages of the drug were sealed against moisture and weighed down with gym weights, then Gimenez would dive at dawn to so-called “sea boxes” on the hulls of cargo ships bound for Europe and secure the packages to them. Then the same operation was to take place in reverse when the ships reached their destination.
“He had appropriate tools. He had reasonable equipment and he had the main thing, which was the knowledge to make this dive,” said Rogério Lages, an agent with the federal police. Gimenez was also a partner with a Madrid-based company that specializes in shipbuilding and maritime transport, which no doubt played a part in the plan to use the sea-boxes. “These are large compartments that are below the waterline, they are responsible for capturing water for the ship, for generators, for engines, for cooling,” Lages continued. The boxes can sit up to 18 meters underwater and have metal grills in front of their intakes. “They open the bars, put the drug inside, tie and close the bars. So from the outside, you can’t see,” Lages explained.
The gang also made detailed studies of each cargo ship in Porto Vitória, tracking the day of departure from Brazil and arrival in European ports so they could pick the exact ships they wanted to use for the trafficking. Then, Gimenez would make the dive with the sealed packages and attach them to the sea-boxes. “If he doesn’t seal, vacuum pack, if he doesn’t make a good mooring, either this drug will be sucked or it will fall apart on the way,” another agent said. “He knows when this ship will arrive there. He can follow the movement of the ship on the internet. And he moves or he has a team of divers there to remove. Do the opposite operation of what he did in Brazil.”
The downfall of the operation began in December 2021, when investigating authorities found over 500 kilograms of cocaine in a house in Vila Velha, a coastal town in Espírito Santo state, and another 380 kilograms in a speedboat belonging to Gimenez. Three people were arrested and it was found that Gimenez was planning to smuggle all the seized drugs on at least one cargo ship. The Aquaman of Crime did manage to escape then but was found in January in an area of coastal São Paolo where another shipment of cocaine was reported to be. He was wearing a wet suit in an alley leading to the port and was arrested and jailed immediately.
Local police are now taking diving courses with a specialization in scanning ship hulls, and sea captains are adding lights near the sea boxes to deter traffickers. “Criminal organizations have structures that are very similar to companies, to multinationals. They have representatives in several countries, in several states. So it is an absurd structure and one that needs to be harshly fought by the police,” police superintendent Eugênio Ricas said.
Source: Globo.com
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