A massive drug cartel that reportedly controlled a third of Europe’s cocaine trade has been dismantled by Spain’s civil guard, working with Europol, resulting in 49 arrests across various European countries, the Spanish authorities reported on Monday.
Among the detainees, 13 of which were apprehended in Spain are the alleged drug lords who directed the mammoth drug trafficking operation from Dubai, EURACTIV’s partner EFE reported.
Spain’s Interior Ministry reported that six detainees, thought to be the ringleaders, who had settled in Dubai years ago, were also apprehended.
“From the city-emirate of Dubai, the leaders of this mega cartel, known as the ‘Drug Lords’ for the parties in this operation, controlled and directed the criminal activities of the different cells, under the conviction they were in a ‘sanctuary’ where they felt untouchable and which, in turn, allowed them to maintain a high standard of living,” the interior ministry statement read.
During the operation, agents seized over 30 tons of cocaine in various European ports.
In total, 49 people were arrested in Spain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Dubai. Europol sources reported.
The organisation had established bases in all the above countries to make use of some of Europe’s most important ports, which are considered the main gateway for drugs into the continent.
The criminal network had two operative branches in Spain, one in charge of moving drugs from commercial seaports and another tasked with money laundering of profits.
The civil guard probe began in March 2020 in the eastern Spanish port of Valencia, when officers intercepted a cargo of 698 kilos of cocaine. No arrests were made.
Investigators soon discovered that the cartel was using a complex corporate network of real estate investments in the Costa del Sol region, in southern Spain, to reportedly launder the profits from the drug trafficking operation.
(Fernando Heller | EuroEFE.EURACTIV.es)
Source: euractiv.com
