They were illegally harvesting tons of mastic, a shrub of great ecological value, in protected areas of Catalan forests. They operated mainly in the province of Tarragona and transported the merchandise in vans to a warehouse for clandestine shipment to the Netherlands. This was the modus operandi of a criminal organization with international connections dedicated to plundering mastic trees in Catalonia and laundering the millions of euros in profits they obtained from this trade. The Civil Guard has arrested ten people who, between July 2020 and December 2023, harvested at least 991 tons of mastic trees and laundered around 32 million euros.