17 Nov, 2017 @ 14:45
1 min read

WATCH: Brits arrested after €13 million cash, 18 cars and 3.7 tonnes of coke seized in HUGE anti-drug operation across Spain

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GUARDIA Civil have arrested 40 suspects in an anti-drug and money laundering operation covering Girona, Pontevedra, Madrid, Melilla, Malaga and Morocco.

Footage released shows cops raiding properties and uncovering 18 cars and 1.2 tonnes of cocaine.

The arrested include 34 men and six women of British, Spanish and Moroccan nationalities.

Some €13 million in cash was also seized while another 2.5 tonnes of cocaine were uncovered in Morocco, meaning 3.7 tonnes of the Class-A drug were unearthed altogether – a street value of €103 million.

Cops say the operation, run in conjunction with Europol and several other national crime agencies, has disabled an important criminal organization based in Spain and Morocco and which was directed from Venezuela by a Spanish citizen who is being hunted down.

A motorhome and three boats used for the transfer of the drugs were also seized.

The crime gang was able to move money by using people with limited financial resources and making them hide money among their belongings while travelling.

The investigation managed to intercept more than €4 million euros on flights departing from Malaga or Melilla to Venezuela, but how much they really got through is likely far higher.

 

Laurence Dollimore

Laurence Dollimore is a Spanish-speaking, NCTJ-trained journalist with almost a decade’s worth of experience.
The London native has a BA in International Relations from the University of Leeds and and an MA in the same subject from Queen Mary University London.
He earned his gold star diploma in multimedia journalism at the prestigious News Associates in London in 2016, before immediately joining the Olive Press at their offices on the Costa del Sol.
After a five-year stint, Laurence returned to the UK to work as a senior reporter at the Mail Online, where he remained for two years before coming back to the Olive Press as Digital Editor in 2023.
He continues to work for the biggest newspapers in the UK, who hire him to investigate and report on stories in Spain.
These include the Daily Mail, Telegraph, Mail Online, Mail on Sunday and The Sun and Sun Online.
He has broken world exclusives on everything from the Madeleine McCann case to the anti-tourism movement in Tenerife.

GOT A STORY? Contact newsdesk@theolivepress.es or call +34 951 273 575 Twitter: @olivepress

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