Walter Finch
THE main shopping thoroughfare of Malaga was swarming with police this morning as part of a huge operation to take down an Albanian mafia gang.
A fleet of vehicles belonging to the Guardia Civil took over Calle Larios Wednesday morning amid several raids on properties and premises including a law firm.
Luxurious Sotogrande, home to ‘billionaire’s row’, in San Roque, as well as Torremolinos and Marbella on the Costa del Sol also saw raids as part of the operation.
Around 20 arrests are expected, including the director of the law firm, all linked to the notorious Farruku clan out of Albania.
The director is a legal specialist in criminal law and investments and is thought to be under investigation for money laundering.
The operation was overseen by the Algeciras command in Cadiz after the seizure of two tonnes of cocaine at the port of Algeciras in February.
The operation was part of an enormous, nationwide investigation related to an international cocaine trafficking operation in several provinces, including Cádiz, Madrid, Málaga, Toledo, and Barcelona involving over 250 officers.
Summonses are also being issued to other individuals under investigation.
The Farruku mafia, made up of Albanian citizens, has been known in Spain since 2008 for its involvement in home robberies, cocaine trafficking, and various crimes related to drug trafficking.
The group is named after its alleged ringleader, Kreshnik Farruku, who took control after the murder of his predecessor in Madrid in 2010. The finger of suspicion for the killing pointed to its new leader.
Farruku himself was arrested in Barcelona In 2019 with 20 kilos of cocaine on the back of a European arrest warrant issued by Italy the year before.
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