Fiona Govan
A NOTORIOUS drug dealer known as La Paca has been arrested in Mallorca during raids on the shanty town Son Banya.
The Guardia Civil operation against drugs trafficking and money laundering on Thursday led to the arrest of fifty people among whom was Francisca Cortes Picazo.
Picazo, 66, is an infamous drugs matriarch known as La Paca who was the subject of two-part mini-series in 2019 which described her as ‘the biggest drug trafficker in the history of the Balearic Islands’.
She was arrested in 2008, sentenced to five years in prison and fined €12 million for running what police considered was one of the largest drug trafficking clans in the Balearic Islands.
She was also accused of running a money laundering network that included nightclubs, restaurants, industrial warehouses and a string of properites in Mallorca.
At that time police also discovered piles of cash hidden in a hole in the ground beside La Paca’s home. It took five days for investigators to count out all the notes which amounted to more than €4.3 million.
Now she is yet again behind bars as part of a police operation that resulted in 50 arrests and focused on the Son Banya area on the outskirts of Palma.
Police believe the area served as a hub for drug trafficking and distribution as well as money laundering.
Palma City Council are in the process of dismantling the illegally built properties in the zone, some of which are little more than shacks.
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