Charlie Smith
A CIVIL servant who ran a multi-million euro drug empire in southern Spain has been arrested with 56 others.
Operation Albarraxín also led police to seize 10 tonnes of Moroccan hashish and €3.3 million in goods.
The gang led by the City Hall worker, imported 62 tonnes of hash a year to Spain’s Costa del Sol.
Guardia Civil agents first noticed the ‘very active’ gang in August, who employed speed boat captains to traffick drugs across the Strait of Gibraltar .
Police found drugs hidden in Manilva, Casares, San Enrique de Guadiaro, Tesorillo, Estepona, Tarifa and San Roque.
These areas were waiting points, from which the gang would distribute the drugs across Europe.
After the month-operation by police a judge investigating the case has sent half of the men to prison.
“It is one of the most important criminal organisations dedicated to drug trafficking between North Africa and Europe through the coast of Andalusia,” a police spokesperson said.
Documents seized by police are being analysed by specialists, who are investigating another division of the gang for money laundering.
A source close to the investigation told El Pais: “What’s important is that everything has been dismantled, although the investigation into money laundering continues.”
