MADRID, April 4 (Xinhua) -- Spanish police on Thursday detained 21 people and dismantled two criminal gangs which defrauded 150 million euros (168.3 million U.S. dollars) through the illegal sale of "large quantities" of fuel, the Spanish Interior Ministry confirmed in a press communique.
The ministry said that the gangs had set up front companies through which they were able to avoid paying 150 million euros in sales tax.
The police operation, which followed an investigation originally opened in 2015, included raids carried out in the regions of Madrid and Valencia. It was the biggest operation of its kind ever to be carried out against gangs active in the fuel market.
The Spanish Treasury explains that the gang used several ways to avoid paying tax: they created false bills and declared quantities of fuel well below what they had actually sold.
"The 150 million euros which were defrauded would have allowed the state to build a 25 kilometer high-speed railway line or 50 kilometers of motorway," explained Guardia Civil Colonel Antonio Balas at a press conference.
"The operation was a crime, because as well as creating a fraud worth millions of euros, it also affected legitimate operators, which were unable to compete with the prices of those who avoided paying taxes," added the Interior Ministry.
The operation included the investigation of 292 companies and 150 people, as well as the seizure of 61 top-of-range vehicles, two boats and fuel worth 2 million euros.
"This operation is the most effective ever organized against crime in the hydrocarbon sector, both for its results and its effect on the market. These two organizations which have been dismantled were the most important ones that have been operating in recent years," confirmed the press communique.
