Cops have smashed a gang based in two Spanish holiday meccas that was sending millions of euro worth of drugs all over Europe – including to Ireland.
Spain’s National Police arrested 23 suspected members of the gang operating out of Tenerife and the Costa del Sol in an investigation that lasted more than two years,
Officers believe the gang was smuggling cannabis into several different countries by lorry, including Ireland.
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The Spanish Ministry of Interior said some €8 million of cannabis was seized in the operation and added that €1 million worth of the drug was impounded in Ireland.
The Mirror has established the Irish consignment was seized earlier this year in an operation involving the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau and the Revenue Customs Service.
More than 50 kgs of the drugs was seized in the Irish operation, worth a cool €1 million.
The drugs were smuggled into Ireland on a pallet in a lorry, but we cannot go into more details as a man has been charged in relation to the seizure ad is currently before the courts.
Spanish authorities said the operation saw them working with Dutch investigators and Europol, the EU’s policing agency, to dismantle the gang in a probe that started in 2021. The operation as run under EMPACT, Europol’s anti-gangland policy.
They said the raids, that culminated in recent days, saw 23 people arrested, 10 properties raised., 400 kgs of cannabis seized – including the 54 kgs in Ireland – as well as ecstasy worth around €10,000 and four firearms.
A Spanish Interior Ministry spokesperson said: “The investigation began in 2021 within the framework of EMPACT and it was possible to intercept six of the drug transports that the criminal organization wanted to carry out.
“They used vehicles to transport the drugs and weapons and in some cases covered it with polyurethane to prevent its discovery.”
The spokesperson added: “The operation, coordinated by Europol and carried out together with agents from the Netherlands, has resulted in the arrest of the 23 members of the organization in Malaga, Granada, Murcia, Norway, Ireland and the Netherlands.
“In addition, 10 house searches have been carried out in Malaga, Tenerife and the Netherlands, in which 440,000 euros, 323 kilos of marijuana, 71 kilos of hashish, 300 grams of cocaine, 2 kilos of MMDA, four firearms, a simulated weapon and another compressed air weapon, 19 vehicles and various computer equipment."
He said that the gang used transport lorries to smuggle drugs and weapons into Europe from the Costa del Sol.
“They also used international logistics companies with which they shipped pallets with various types of merchandise and among which they hid the drugs,” he said..
The spokesperson said the investigation saw €700,000 worth of cannabis seized in Norway in a lorry that came from Malaga on the Costa del Sol last April.
A month later, a truck with €3.2 million of cannabis hidden inside was nabbed near Malaga as it headed to Germany.
And so far this year there have been four seizures, totalling €3.9 million, which includes the €1 million nabbed in Ireland.
Last month, cops became aware the gang was planning another shipment to the Netherlands – and moved against the bosses.
Three suspected leaders were arrested in the sting. As well as drugs and firearms, cops also sized a sophisticated encrypted communications system.
That led to 80 encrypted phones being seized and some 150 sim cards – all of which are now being examined for clues to find more gang members.
It is unclear if any of the gang bosses are from Ireland.
