Kirsty Mckenzie
NATIONAL police based in the province of Malaga, Andalucia, have broken up a criminal gang that used double-bottomed vehicles equipped with drug-preparation facilities to distribute cocaine across the region.
Operation ‘Cleaner’ culminated in the arrest of 10 members of a criminal gang. Investigators carried out half a dozen raids in the provinces of Malaga, Córdoba, Jaén and Toledo, finding more than €60,000 in cash, one hydraulic press, a heat sealing machine, and a wide variety of tools for the preparation and cutting of the drug. They also seized 12 vehicles and confiscated 3.3 kilograms of cocaine.
During the investigation, officers discovered that the network had several bases far away from the Malaga coast where members of the network “cooked” the drug and hid it for sale at a later date.
The biggest surprise to investigators was when the National Police discovered a hidden floor in a house in the Toledo town of Illescas that had been converted into a laboratory-like the hit Netflix series Breaking Bad.
The lab had all the types of utensils required for the preparation and cutting of cocaine.
During investigations, officers from the UDYCO Costa del Sol intercepted two vehicles, one in Malaga and another in the Cordovan town of Cabra. Upon inspection, two “hidden” compartments in the vehicles were found where the drugs were hidden, a total of three kilograms of cocaine were seized in that operation.
According to police involved in Operation Cleaner, the cocaine was found to be stored in “safe” furniture by members of the criminal group for later distribution to different drug trafficking criminal organisations on the Costa del Sol.
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