In connection with the strike against the World Exchange exchange office in Stockholm, Tania Gomez, 32, was wanted and disappeared. For almost four years she has been arrested in her absence, suspected of several serious crimes.
Gomez became internationally wanted and later ended up on Europol’s list of most wanted people. Europol said she could be linked to a criminal network in the Stockholm area. The Spanish police say for TV4 News that Gomez was arrested in the city of Tías at Lanzarote on February 20.
Police confirm: Gomez Gripen
According to the Spanish police, Gomez must have been on Lanzarote in recent years to avoid the Swedish police. In a press release, she is described as a Swedish woman, with a Spanish and a Swedish parent.
Policía Nacional’s press department in Las Palmas confirms for TV4 News that it is the internationally wanted Gomez that has been arrested. The investigation must have gained momentum in recent weeks after information has been received that allowed her to be located.
-Tania Gomez was arrested in the city of Tías last Thursday, says Isabel López, Las Palmas police spokesperson.
A video published by the Spanish police shows how Tania Gomez is led by two police officers through a parking garage. According to the police, Gomez must now be deprived of liberty pending extradition to Sweden.
Were arrested in their absence
Tania Gomez is suspected of extremely serious drug smuggling, extremely serious drug crime and serious money laundering. The prosecutor who previously led the case states that the suspicions arose when the encrypted service encrochat was cracked and the strike against the exchange office in Stockholm.
Prosecutor Anna Stråth, who is the preliminary investigator in the case, does not want to comment on whether she knows the arrest of Gomez in Spain.
– I have a case where this woman is arrested in her absence in Stockholm District Court and has been there since 2021. That is what I can say about the case, otherwise I have no comments to leave, says Stråth.
Prosecutor: handled large amounts of drugs and money
When Tania Gomez was arrested in her absence in the spring of 2021, the prosecutor described the crime suspicions against her. The prosecutor said she was involved in smuggling kilos with cannabis to Sweden and handled large amounts of cocaine and cannabis.
In May 2020, she must have received ten kilos of cocaine in the Stockholm area, transported it to her home where it was reviewed and tested, before it was passed on.
Gomez should also have handled SEK 1.8 million, which was part of a drug deal. In 2019 and 2020, she should also have left and collected over SEK 4 million at the World Exchange exchange office in Stockholm.
– We suspect that this company has served as a bank for a number of criminal networks and criminal individuals. It is organized systematic money laundering. And what you have washed is actually drug money, said prosecutor Ulrika Lindsö in connection with the strike against the office.