Alex Trelinski
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A SIX MONTH operation to bring down an Albanian-led drugs gang that used luxury Costa Blanca villas as marijuana farms has resulted in nine arrests.
The Guardia Civil carried out four simultaneous raids in Alicante, Altea, and Castalla with eight of the detainees being jailed.
At the time of the arrests, one of the gang leaders tried to flee through a balcony, but was caught by Guardia officers on the terrace of a nearby house.
Items seized included two firearms, 1,592 marijuana plants, €1,005 in cash, and two high-end cars.
To make the marijuana plantations more efficient and profitable, the criminals made illegal connections to the electricity grid defrauding suppliers to the tune of €196,782.
All of the group were male and were of Albanian, Greek, and Italian nationalities.
They were led by a man and his nephew who had European Arrest Warrants issued against them by Italian authorities for similar crimes.
Five of the gang were specifically tasked with running security at the clandestine plantations in rental villas which the Guardia said were in ‘exclusive’ areas.
The extensive list of charges against the crew include drug trafficking and cultivation, illegal possession of weapons, electricity fraud, money laundering and belonging to a criminal organisation.
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- Luxury rental villas on Spain’s Costa Blanca converted into marijuana farms
