A Spanish police corruption investigation has widened into a narcotics and money-laundering scandal that links a senior economic-crimes investigator and a son of the Duke of Seville to an international drug-trafficking ring, The Times reported. 

Authorities believe Óscar Sánchez Gil, the head of Spain’s Unidad de Delincuencia Económica y Fiscal (UDEF), accepted more than €20 million in kickbacks from suspected drug kingpin Ignacio Torán. Sánchez purportedly exploited his role at the UDEF to tip off Torán to police activity and help the drug trafficker launder his illicit earnings, The Times said. 

Sánchez’s “senior position in the organisational structure of the Drug and Organised Crime Unit gave him access to all relevant information on money-laundering and drug-trafficking investigations that might be initiated,” reads a court order cited by the newspaper. 

In raids on Sánchez’s multiple properties and office, investigators found tens of millions of euros in cash and handwritten notes referencing an “international business network” and a “laundering plan” involving €14 million in cryptoassets, The Times reported.

Authorities have also tied the drug-trafficking ring to Spanish royalty. Police have arrested Francisco de Borbón, a distant cousin of the former king Juan Carlos and a scion of Europe’s royal house of Bourbon, for allegedly laundering the syndicate’s drug money through cryptocurrency, according to the report. 

Borbón, who previously appeared on the U.S. reality show “Secret Princes,” was among four people detained for their alleged involvement in a laundering network used by Sánchez and Torán, The Times said. 

Ireland’s beneficial-ownership registry cites Borbón among the founders of a Dublin-registered crypto firm, ET Finetch Europe, cited in the case. Documents accessed by El País and referenced by The Times list Borbón alongside other suspects, including Juan Ángel Cervera, described as “Juan the financier,” who allegedly designed part of the financial architecture used to move drug money, and Ángel Luis Cano, who has denied involvement.

The investigation separately implicates Sánchez’s wife, also a national police officer, and his sister-in-law, Yolanda Ruiz, who allegedly ran a business conglomerate used to launder money. A lawyer named Mario Pestaña is also under investigation, with investigators describing him as a co-ordinator of part of the laundering “strategy,” according to The Times.

Authorities allege that Eduardo Montero Salgado facilitated the scheme by serving as Torán’s trusted lieutenant. Montero is a cousin of Alejandro Salgado Vega, an alleged drug kingpin known as “El Tigre” who is believed to be in Dubai, the news outlet said. 

Read more at The Times