National
Three Britons arrested in Granada in one of the largest drug swoops ever seen in Spain
Nov 13, 2017 - 12:16 PM
Massive 1,200 kilos of cocaine discovered in Zarautz and Granada
Three Britons arrested in Granada in one of the largest drug swoops ever seen in Spain
Nov 13, 2017 - 12:16 PM
Agents from the National Police have dismantled a criminal gang dedicated to international drug trafficking during raids in Zarautz (Gipuzkoa) and Granada with two and three arrests respectively
Over the two swoops 1,200 kilos of cocaine was found, one of the largest amounts ever seen on the Spanish mainland.
Of this amount, 678 kilos have been destroyed in the location in the Basque Country which was discovered hidden underground. Those arrested also hid in Zarautz, a marijuana plantation inside an uninhabited house.
In the framework of the operation, five people were taken into custody, two Spaniards in Zarautz and two Britons in Granada.
One of the detained in Gipuzkoa has now been released. According to the Police, the organised criminal group was based both in Britain and in Spain, and had been organised and directed from Marbella and is under judicial order from the Instruction Court 3 in Marbella.
The investigation started last year, when agents became aware of international criminal network trafficking drugs from Spain to the UK. Their ‘modus operandi’ consisted in assembling for storage huge amounts of cocaine in northern Spain and then they transported the drugs to southern Spain, where those in custody had established a business structure to cover up the transportation of the drugs. Here the drugs were divided into small packages to be sent on to Britain, while other quantities were shared amongst drug runners in Spain.
The network was one of the most active in Spain, guaranteed by using professional lorry drivers who hid the drugs amongst legal merchandise and following the routes all truckers were using legally.
One of those taken into custody was outstanding according to the detectives, a British lorry driver who was spotted in Spain driving a trailer lorry with destination UK. His route passed through Andalucía, Murcia and Valencia, when several agents heightened their security levels and followed the suspect to Burgos, where he was spotted loading another consignment of cocaine. Then he went to San Sebastián, made contact with another member who drove his car ahead of the lorry to warn about any police checks until their destination behind closed gates, away from urban centres.
The drivers always used secondary roads to avoid the police, and both vehicles arrived together at a warehouse located on the road between Almuñécar and Salobreña (Granada). Once parked, the driver was helped by two others to unload the drugs and here was when three suspects were caught red-handed with packages totalling 483 with each one containing 1.1 kilos of cocaine, amounting to 531 kilos. Inside the warehouse the agents confiscated diverse specialist tools to plastic wrap the packets, and seal them as part of an ordinary merchandise of a great tonnage.
Later, the detectives searched an area in Zarautz, found to be used for loading the drugs, and arrested the other two suspects, working as watchmen. Using an excavator to reach the underground hideout - 612 packets of cocaine totalling 678 kilos of the drug found to be identical to those in Almuñécar.
In the same locality, they discovered an empty house found with indoor plantations after a third search of the home of the main suspect in Orio (Granada) where the agents found another kilo of cocaine.
In addition to the five being held in custody, the detectives have confiscated or destroyed a total of 1.2 tons of cocaine, an articulated lorry, two cars, four heavyweight scales, three precision scales, two vacuum packing machines, 6,000 € in cash, several smartphones, and accounting documents, 35 gun cartridges of 22 calibres and a list of fake number plates used as camouflaged police cars.
National Police
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Over the two swoops 1,200 kilos of cocaine was found, one of the largest amounts ever seen on the Spanish mainland.
Of this amount, 678 kilos have been destroyed in the location in the Basque Country which was discovered hidden underground. Those arrested also hid in Zarautz, a marijuana plantation inside an uninhabited house.
In the framework of the operation, five people were taken into custody, two Spaniards in Zarautz and two Britons in Granada.
One of the detained in Gipuzkoa has now been released. According to the Police, the organised criminal group was based both in Britain and in Spain, and had been organised and directed from Marbella and is under judicial order from the Instruction Court 3 in Marbella.
The investigation started last year, when agents became aware of international criminal network trafficking drugs from Spain to the UK. Their ‘modus operandi’ consisted in assembling for storage huge amounts of cocaine in northern Spain and then they transported the drugs to southern Spain, where those in custody had established a business structure to cover up the transportation of the drugs. Here the drugs were divided into small packages to be sent on to Britain, while other quantities were shared amongst drug runners in Spain.
The network was one of the most active in Spain, guaranteed by using professional lorry drivers who hid the drugs amongst legal merchandise and following the routes all truckers were using legally.
One of those taken into custody was outstanding according to the detectives, a British lorry driver who was spotted in Spain driving a trailer lorry with destination UK. His route passed through Andalucía, Murcia and Valencia, when several agents heightened their security levels and followed the suspect to Burgos, where he was spotted loading another consignment of cocaine. Then he went to San Sebastián, made contact with another member who drove his car ahead of the lorry to warn about any police checks until their destination behind closed gates, away from urban centres.
The drivers always used secondary roads to avoid the police, and both vehicles arrived together at a warehouse located on the road between Almuñécar and Salobreña (Granada). Once parked, the driver was helped by two others to unload the drugs and here was when three suspects were caught red-handed with packages totalling 483 with each one containing 1.1 kilos of cocaine, amounting to 531 kilos. Inside the warehouse the agents confiscated diverse specialist tools to plastic wrap the packets, and seal them as part of an ordinary merchandise of a great tonnage.
Later, the detectives searched an area in Zarautz, found to be used for loading the drugs, and arrested the other two suspects, working as watchmen. Using an excavator to reach the underground hideout - 612 packets of cocaine totalling 678 kilos of the drug found to be identical to those in Almuñécar.
In the same locality, they discovered an empty house found with indoor plantations after a third search of the home of the main suspect in Orio (Granada) where the agents found another kilo of cocaine.
In addition to the five being held in custody, the detectives have confiscated or destroyed a total of 1.2 tons of cocaine, an articulated lorry, two cars, four heavyweight scales, three precision scales, two vacuum packing machines, 6,000 € in cash, several smartphones, and accounting documents, 35 gun cartridges of 22 calibres and a list of fake number plates used as camouflaged police cars.
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