Alex Trelinski
A COSTA Blanca drugs gang led by a man who bought a €250,000 luxury car out of the proceeds, has been busted by the Guardia Civil.
18 people have been arrested in Operation Primoto with raids in the Vega Baja region of Alicante province and in Murcia.
The Guardia probe also uncovered a second Murcia-based gang, yielding an additional 17 arrests.
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Investigations started in late 2022 into a crew selling drugs from homes and on Torrevieja street corners, with customers able to call them to get personal deliveries.
To attract more clients, they used instant messaging phone apps and marketing strategies that included a ‘Happy Hour’ where discounted prices or larger quantities of narcotics were offered.
The criminals guaranteed a 24-hour per day service and changed addresses every three months to avoid police raids.
The gang was led by a Spaniard in Torrevieja who subsequently moved north to an up-market urbanisation in Moncada, Valencia province.
He expanded his operations across the Vega Baja to Bigastro and Callosa de Segura and was known for his ostentatious lifestyle and boasting about his income.
Guardia investigators discovered he bought a Ferrari sports car for €250,000 in cash, but later sold it.
Officers made their move in October when they heard the gang was hiring hitmen to threaten one of their suppliers who did not send them 14 kilos of cocaine which had been paid for.
That led to the first bunch of arrests and information leading to another gang in Beniel, Murcia.
In February, five indoor marijuana farms in Orihuela’s Arneva district, San Miguel de Salinas and Beniel were raided.
The Arneva farm was in a warehouse where the gang used a cellar with different rooms which they specially adapted for growing marijuana.
Information about the Guardia Civil operations were under a Torrevieja court secrecy order, which was only lifted this week.
Out of the 35 arrest total, 24 people were denied bail including the leaders of the two gangs.
