Walter Finch
A MASSIVE Swedish-Spanish marijuana-trafficking gang that trucked hundreds of kilos of narcotics across Europe has been smashed.
The gang organised huge shipments hidden among standard merchandise that started in Spain and rolled out across France and the Low Countries into major Swedish cities.
A sizable 750kg of cannabis was seized during a number of shipments and 19 people arrested in a joint operation by Swedish and Spanish police.
The group initially made innocent-looking purchases of goods in Spain that were exported to other countries in lorries.
They then stashed the drugs among the goods set off on the road, using the cover of the exportation documents when faced with customs.
Suspicions were first aroused in Sweden between 2019 and 2020 during a money laundering investigation.
Swedish cops managed to identify the leaders of one of these networks and figured out it was involved in drug trafficking between Spain and Sweden.
In collaboration with Spanish Policia Nacional they honed in on some of the group’s leaders based in Alicante.
Three weed consignments to Sweden were identified by the joint operation.
In the first, 250 kilos of cannabis were seized in Gothenburg, bound for Sweden.
In the second, 300 kilos of cannabis were detected in Stockholm, and in the last one seized in Bordeaux, 162 kilos of marijuana were found.
Four leaders of the gang were arrested in Sweden in February and in Spain, under a European Arrest Warrant issued by Sweden, another person was detained.
However, despite these arrests, a new shipment transported by a Lithuanian group was surveilled just weeks later.
The drivers made a stop in Alicante to pick up what was suspected to be a cannabis batch and they were intercepted by police in Castellon de la Plana.
After a search, a further 44 kilos of drugs were found concealed in the lorry.
During a home search, an illegal indoor cannabis sativa cultivation setup was discovered, which was completely dismantled.
A total of 250 marijuana plants were seized, as well as 8 kilos of harvested marijuana buds.
At this time, the operation remains open and other networks involved in this type of transport are being investigated.
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