Twenty-three people have been arrested on suspicion of fixing football games in the Royal Spanish Football Federation, the Gibraltar National League, and the Andorra League.
Ten footballers are being questioned about “steering” the outcome of matches while playing.
Thirty matches are being looked at.
Europol, Interpol, and the Spanish police working on Operation Conifera (conifer) co-ordinated the arrests.
Investigators believe the fixing gang had two “leaders” with close connections to professional players.
The players handed over confidential information to influence games.
“Procurers” supplied identities to open online accounts and “mules” would place bets and collect the winnings.
Fixers used encrypted communications, a mix of in-person and online betting, and placed bets in instalments to avoid detection.
A statement today (January 31st) from Europol said:
“Our support was central in the development of the Spanish investigation.
“Europol’s European Financial and Economic Crime Centre has been supplying continuous intelligence development and analysis to map out the different targets and their criminal activity.
“A specialised officer was deployed to Spain to supply on-the-spot operational and analytical support to the national investigators.
“Europol has a team of experts working with law enforcement authorities across the EU to identify links between suspicious matches and suspects, and to uncover the organised crime groups orchestrating these multi-million-euro frauds against sport.”
The Policia Nacional in Spain said ten players in the Segunda and Tercera RFEF – the fourth and fifth tiers of Spanish football – have been arrested.
