Laurence Dollimore
MORE details have emerged from the huge drug bust made by Policia Nacional in Granada and northern Spain last week.
According to cops, the 1.2 tonne haul is one of the biggest ever seized on Spanish soil, while the bust is said to have dismantled a Spanish-British drug trafficking organisation said to be ‘one of the most active in Europe’.
Three Britons and two Spaniards were arrested in Granada and Guipúzcoa.
The group brought large quantities of cocaine into Guipuzcoa then later transported it to the south in Granada, where a ‘business infrastructure’ was in place to use as a cover for transporting the Class A drug further by either sending it in small quantities to the UK or to other criminal organisations in Spain.
Professional truck drivers moved the drugs by hiding them among their legal cargo and sticking to standardised routes to avoid arousing suspicion.
But police grew suspicious when they noticed that one of the drivers, a Briton, had increased security during a route back to the UK.
When the driver stopped in Granada to unload the drugs with the help of two other gang members, police swooped in and made their arrests.
They discovered 483 parcels containing 531 kilograms of cocaine in the vehicle.
Three further members of the ring were later arrested in Zarautz, where officers – with the assistance of an excavator – literally unearthed 678 kilos of the drug buried under the ground.
Police also discovered an abandoned building at the same location being used to grow marijuana.
