A criminal organization in Malaga and Jaén dedicated to the illegal distribution of audiovisual content, whose income exceeded 5 million euros in illegal payments during the period under investigation, was dismantled by National Police. Nine detainees – three in Jaén and six in Malaga – are being held. Six searches were carried out in different buildings, premises and a warehouse used as material storage.
Police investigations began in December 2023 when agents received and verified a complaint from the Audiovisual Producers Rights Management Entity (EGEDA) about unauthorized marketing of audiovisual services through a website.
The criminals had developed a business network to carry out a large number of banking transactions for payments made by users for illegal access to audiovisual content, and later laundered these activities through the acquisition of numerous properties valued at more than 3,252,000 euros.
Illicit streaming devices
The illegal distribution system consisted of the sale of hundreds of thousands of pre-configured illicit streaming devices that provided access to cardsharing servers – a method to share your access to paid services – to thousands of end-user customers throughout the country.
These customers were given precise instructions on how to configure these decoder devicess by installing firmware for illegal access to television and audiovisual content.
Financial analysis
An economic investigation into the services offered by those investigated led investigators to analyze more than 60 bank accounts that yielded a net profit in the period under investigation of more than 5,000,000 euros in illegal payments linked to criminal activity, not counting the damages caused to rights-holders.
Further reading
The National Police dismantles a criminal organization dedicated to the illegal distribution of audiovisual content. Press release. March 17, 2025. Direccion General de la Policia de España
Why it matters
The pirates used money-laundering and custom-configured streaming devices to conduct and then hide their business activities. The police operation represents a collaboration between rights-holders and law enforcement. In other words, it was a relatively common scenario that came out well in the end.
