In November 2024, an episode that occurred in a large Salamanca commercial establishment initially went unnoticed but, curiously, now makes sense within an investigation of rnational elevation and places it on the rigorous agenda of the day.
On the 11th of that month, a family made up of three peopletwo women and a man, was intercepted by agents of the National Police after arousing the suspicions of the center’s staff.
As the newspaper reported The reason, The first alert went off when the family tried to acquire a jewel whose price exceeded 1,000 euros using a bank card in the name of Ignacio Torán. However, the operation was not completed successfully because the employees demanded certain documentation that they did not have in their possession to formalize the purchase.
Despite having failed in their first attempt, the three members of the family did not give up their efforts and began to buy somewhat compulsive: Bathrobes or towels ended up being mixed in the carts with products such as a Samsung Galaxy or an iPhone 16, including a cleaning robot or airpods. He amount exceeded 4,000 euros, an expense that, given the speed with which it had been carried out, and being more than unusual, alerted the head of security, who ended up giving notice to the National Police.
Curiously, prior to the agents’ arrival at the scene, the security guard confirmed that the person making the payments and typing the card’s PIN was the couple’s daughter.
Once several members of the Salamanca National Police arrived at the scene, they proceeded to intercept the family, who at that moment was already accumulating products whose value exceeded 11,000 euros.
After the intervention, the three people were taken to police stations.
Now, the question that arises is inevitable: who were These people and why they used a card in the name of Ignacio Torán, identified as one of the alleged ringleaders of a drug trafficking plot related to the former head of the UDEF from Madrid, Óscar Sánchez.
Ignacio Torán, her son’s caregiver and a criminal organization dedicated to international cocaine trafficking
The plot related to the former head of the UDEF of Madrid, and whose investigation is directed by the National Court, positions Toran as one of the key characters within a complex criminal network dedicated to international cocaine trafficking and money laundering.
According to what they point out, the network would have managed to introduce dozens of containers with drugs into Spain, with an approximate volume that would exceed 70 tons and of which only a part managed to be intervened. In exchange, million-dollar payments would have been made and managed to avoid controls thank you Sánchez, in whose home They found 20 million euros in cash.
To hide the illicit origin of the money, investigators say that Torán would have created a business network without real activityacting as interlocutor with the former head of the UDEF and primarily responsible for ensuring the arrival of the cocaine.
Curiously, one of the protagonists of this episode that occurred in the capital of Tormes had already appeared in the police radars just a few days before, specifically, the November 9, 2024when Torán was arrested at his own home. It was there that the oldest woman was arrested to later be released.
In fact, in this woman’s statement during her stay at the Salamanca police station, she explained that she had worked as housekeeper and child caretaker from Toran during the months of June to September 2023, and again from September 20, 2024 until the time of his arrest.
He also alleged that, when Torán received visitors, she left the house and that, therefore, she never got to witness of anything that could be considered, in his opinion, as suspicious.
As he reported, as a form of payment for the last months of work in 2024, Torán would have ehanded over a metallic bank card with the indication that you make purchases until reaching 10,000 euros, amount that he allegedly owed him. Said and done and with this premise, the couple traveled to Salamanca in order to visit their daughter and spend money on establishing the cityd in which the police intervention occurred.
Now, in February 2026, the judge of the National Court Francisco de Jorge has decreed the entry into provisional prison, without bail, by Ignacio Torán, just three days after his arrest for alleged money laundering crimes. The magistrate also charges him with serious crimes of drug trafficking under the network of a criminal organization.
Torán availed himself of his right not to testify and the Prosecutor’s Office requested his imprisonment assess risk of flight, given the speed with which the investigation is progressing and the proximity of a possible trial date.
It is important to remember that Torán had already been released in April 2025, after the Criminal Chamber of the National Court found a violation of his right to effective judicial protection and freedom, as his defense had not been provided with essential elements of the case to appeal the deprivation of liberty.
