2 Sep, 2025 @ 14:00
1 min read

Irish crime boss John Gilligan is bailed over drug lab charges after spending eight months behind bars in Spain

Irish crime boss John Gilligan is bailed over drug lab charges after spending eight months behind bars in Spain

IRISH mobster John Gilligan has been released from prison after being arrested in December for running a pink cocaine drug laboratory at his Orihuela Costa home.

The Informacion newspaper has reported that his lawyer, Aitor Esteban Gallastegni, managed to secure bail at €10,000 following delays in getting analysis of the seized narcotics.

Gilligan, 73, had his bail posted last Friday and was released soon afterwards.

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Irish mobster John Gilligan jailed after pink cocaine laboratory is found at his Costa Blanca villa
GILLIGAN, PULLING PINTS

Two others have also been bailed due to delays in getting drug purity reports, according to Informacion..

The UK’s National Crime Agency identified a Macedonian family gang that acted under Gilligan’s orders for the systematic manufacture and distribution of different types of narcotic substances in Murcia.

Eight of that gang were arrested by the Policia Nacional.

Officers closed down the drug lab which had a capacity to make between 300 and 600 kilos of narcotics.

A revolver was also found hidden at Gilligan’s home and numerous mobile phones were removed.

The police probe was made difficult by gang members constantly switching addresses within the Murcia region and Alicante province.

The raid on Gilligan’s villa was executed after a big increase in pink cocaine was detected in leisure areas of Murcia.

Searches were also carried out at two addresses in the Murcia district of La Alberca where quantities of the drug were found.

In September 2023, Gilligan avoided a jail term after agreeing a plea bargain with prosecutors over drug trafficking and gun possession charges, following raids in the Torrevieja area three years earlier.

He was accused of masterminding an operation to smuggle cannabis and powerful sleeping-pills to his native Ireland in consignments of flip-flops.

Despite prosecutors initially wanting Gilligan jailed for over eight years, the deal gave him a 22-month suspended sentence and fines amounting to around €14,000.

Gilligan spent 17 years in an Irish jail before being freed in 2013 after he was convicted of running a large-scale drug trafficking gang in the nineties that netted over €35 million.

He was acquitted in 1996 for the murder of journalist Veronica Guerin with associate Brian Meehan receiving a life sentence for the killing.

Click here to read more Costa Blanca News from The Olive Press.

Alex Trelinski

Alex worked for 30 years for the BBC as a presenter, producer and manager. He covered a variety of areas specialising in sport, news and politics. After moving to the Costa Blanca over a decade ago, he edited a newspaper for 5 years and worked on local radio.

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