A GUILTY verdict this week was the most recent in a series of convictions linked to a large-scale drugs investigations – which saw Customs officers trace cocaine around the world before landing in Jersey.
55-year-old Mariela Josefina Gomez Marquez was found guilty of money-laundering. The two Jurats who sat on her trial found that she had funneled more than £37,000 of her son’s illicit cash through her bank account.
During a four-day trial, Crown Advocate Matthew Maletroit described how Mrs Gomez Marquez had made 176 separate cash deposits. To avoid arousing suspicions, he said, she sometimes made up to four deposits in a single day and sometimes with just a minute between the deposits.
The Jersey Customs and Immigration Service described the investigation – dubbed Operation Mink – as “a complex investigation” that used “a range of investigative tactics” and lasted several months, starting in December 2024.
A ‘brazen’ and well-practiced operation
Gomez Marquez’s son, Javier Gomez’s drugs ring was finally exposed in April 2025.
The court heard this week how power banks were used to hold “commercial quantities of cocaine” in a “brazen” operation.
An alleged courier flew to Jersey with a power bank used to conceal almost 250g of cocaine, hidden so well that Customs officers X-rayed it but could not initially find any signs that it had been tampered with and handed it back. A dummy battery meant the power bank lit up when it was tested.
The next day, Javier Gomez was seen picking up the alleged courier before swapping cars twice, leaving behind £11,000 in cash hidden in a sock, weighing scales with traces of cocaine, and the power bank.
As the investigation went on, Customs officers seized the cars, and again, the drugs in the power bank went unnoticed. It was only in July, when Javier Gomez specifically asked for the Audi and the power bank back that it was examined again – and that was when the drugs were found, amounting to around 250g of cocaine, worth around £60,000.
“The nature of the enterprise was now crystal-clear,” Advocate Maletroit said in court this week.
He added: “This method of importing cocaine in devices was an established one. [This] was not an isolated incident.”
Once they had the car, customs officers turned their attention to the group’s finances.
They found that two associates, Angel Quesada and Alan Rodriguez, had regularly transferred Mr Gomez sums of money, totalling more than £39,000 – and when Quesada was arrested, he had £7,560 of cash on him, which were described in court as criminal property.
All three men were arrested and pleaded guilty to charges related to the operation.
Commenting on the case, Jersey Customs and Immigration senior manager Luke Goddard said Operation Mink demonstrated his team’s skills and ability to “successfully conduct complex investigations targeting the key members of criminal syndicates operating in the Island”.
The investigation also uncovered how the three men bought expensive watches, mobile phones and tablets, which Jersey Customs and Immigration said are “believed to have been exported as a means of transferring the proceeds of crime”.
By working with shops in Jersey, they found that Javier Gomez had bought a Hublot watch for more than £7,000, and officers found a Rolex watch at his home.
Involving mum
Mariela Gomez Marquez was convicted of laundering vast amounts of cash through her bank account – amounts which came from her son’s drug enterprise.
Javier Gomez appeared in the Royal Court to testify on behalf of his mum – telling Jurats that he had been “the dumbest criminal ever” by involving her.
He maintained that she was “innocent” and that she had no idea the cash came from illegal activities. It was heard that she believed the money came from his jobs as a car painter and salesman.
After she was found guilty on Thursday, Mariela Gomez Marquez was remanded into custody ahead of a sentencing date being set.
Commissioner Patricia Lees was presiding, with Jurats Le Heuzé and Opfermann sitting.
