The people who had the false qualifications were able to sail through Spanish waters with the powers of yacht captains, lacking the necessary knowledge to do so.

The Civil Guard, in the framework of the operation called CIGALA, carried out in Pontevedra, has arrested 90 persons for the commission of offences of forgery of nautical sports titles that enable the management of yachts. The persons who had the false qualifications were able to navigate Spanish waters with the powers of yacht captains without the necessary knowledge for this, as they did not participate in the required training courses that enable them to obtain the corresponding degree, nor did they pass the tests they enable for this purpose. The operation began in April 2009 when a card-printing machine, as well as its consumables (virgin cards, holographic tape rolls, etc.), was seized inside a vehicle in the town of Mos (Pontevedra), which once analyzed came to determine that it had been used to produce false documentation.After the first inquiries, it was possible to determine the existence of an organization that was dedicated to the sale of false "Captain of yacht" sports titles, with the maximum responsibility being the Austrian citizen J.W.P., a thirty-three-year-old pianist based in Vigo.

Titles offered on the Internet at €3,000
It had created a website hosted on a server in Manchester, United Kingdom, by which it offered the possibility of obtaining a German nautical degree (FÜHRERSCHEIN SEEFAHRT) that had previously been validated by another Canadian degree (PLEASURE CRAFT OPERATOR CARD) to finally validate it in Spain by the title of Captain of yacht. The Civil Guard was able to verify with the German authorities that such initial qualification did not exist. J.W.P. used a network of collaborators throughout the national territory who, acting as commercial and as professionals in the field of recreational nautical, proposed to several individuals the obtaining of the German degree, with the commitment of its later validation by the Spanish nautical degree, all this after payment of a amount of money ranging from 2,500 to 3,000 euros. It is worth noting the participation in the sale of almost the practice all of the degrees of L.M.M.A., 60 years old, natural of Vigo and neighbor of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, who, as manager of an academy of oppositions established in the latter municipality, used it to give the appearance of legality to the obtaining of the degree. Another fundamental piece in the building designed by J.W.P. was the participation of a Bilbao office, whose responsibility was to process the documentation through the Maritime Captainery of Lassres (Asturias). The network hired three translation services to translate from German to Spanish the cards issued by the virtual entity "Marinenautic Hamburg" and thus give greater appearance of legality to the cards issued by the brain of the organization now dismantled. It has been found that more than 100 people had applied for the validation of the foreign degree issued by Marinenautic Hamburg by that of Captain de yacht in Spain, which may have generated the members of the organization benefits more than 300,000 euros. Under the direction of the headline of the Court of Instruction number Two of O Porriño (Pontevedra), the true magnitude of this criminal offence was determined by the cooperation of the police and judicial authorities of countries such as Germany, Canada and Portugal, being in the latter seat of another of the nautical academies involved.

133 detainees and 214 accused in three similar operations
During the past year, the Civil Guard has arrested 43 other persons and charged 214 for crimes related to documentary falsehood for obtaining the nautical degrees that they enable for the navigation of different types of vessels. In the two previous operations similar to "CIGALA" the falsified titles were that of the Basic Pattern of Navigation (GNP) and of the Patron of Embarcation of Recreo (PER), using the exchange of a Certificate of Competition of the Professional Sailor. These operations have been carried out in Bilbao (1 detained), San Sebastián (2 detained), Ceuta (16 detained), Madrid (1 detained), Barcelona (1 detained), Sevilla (3 detained), Cádiz (10 detained), Córdoba (6 detained), Granada (1 detained), and other residences in Malaga (2 detained).