Alex Trelinski
THREE British men and two Albanians have been arrested after a motorway chase ended in a Costa Blanca supermarket car park with 300 kilos of cocaine seized.
Two Policia Nacional cars were damaged during the high-speed pursuit down the AP-7 motorway in the Valencia region.
The arrests happened early on Tuesday afternoon with the Albanian men detained in Benicassim (Castellon province) and the Brits in Denia(Alicante province).
Last autumn, the police started investigating a Balkan criminal gang specialising in large-scale cocaine imports from South America.
Officers discovered that the group were going a make a hand-over of a significant amount of cocaine which had been placed into a van on Tuesday.
They followed the traffickers and their vehicle to Benicassim where they spotted the van and its contents being handed over to the British buyers.
The drug-laden vehicle had two Brits inside, supported by a lead car driven by a third British man who acted as a look-out for their onward journey to warn them of any police controls.
The trio then headed south down the AP-7 motorway to an unknown destination which police may have been the Costa del Sol.
Once they noticed they were being pursued, a high-speed chase ensued with two patrol cars being rammed.
The van left the motorway at Denia and ended up being cornered in the car park of a Carrefour supermarket.
Guardia Civil and police officers from Denia were brought in as reinforcements as the men were arrested.
The van driver had thrown away the keys but they were located to confirm it was carrying 300 kilos of cocaine.
Police searched several homes in at least two Valencia province towns on Wednesday, accompanied by the two arrested Albanians and their lawyers.
All five men are expected to appear before a Lliria court on Friday.
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