Alex Trelinski
A BRITISH drugs fugitive has been arrested at a Murcia villa which contained a suitcase with 35 guns inside plus 750 bullets wrapped in towels- destined for Spanish criminal gangs.
Anthony Patrick Finnigan, 37, from Liverpool was wanted for possessing 26 bags of amphetamines weighing 56 kilos and 88 cannabis plants- all discovered at his home in 2020.
He fled the UK with the National Crime Agency(NCA) issuing an international arrest warrant stating that Finnigan had ties to ‘very dangerous groups’ that sold arms to finance cocaine purchases.
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The NCA provided intelligence last month to the Policia Nacional that Finnigan was staying at a villa in San Pedro del Pinitar.
Officers monitored the home including a June 18 meeting between Finnigan and two Turks with British passports, Hasan Topal and Ediz Can, who had links to London mafia gangs.
They brought in the weapons by road from Turkey with Finnigan acting as an intermediary between the men and a Morroccan client, Ahmed Mhanni, who was living illegally in the Cartagena area.
Mhanni was allegedly going to supply the weapons to criminal groups operating right down Spain’s east coast.
Two days later, all four men were arrested in different locations with the weapons stash found at Finnigan’s villa.
Gasoline had been used to wipe down any fingerprints on the guns which had been individually vacuum-packed.
Price lists were found, with a Glock revolver coming in at €3,250 with discounts of up to 20% available for mass purchases.
Two of the arrests were at a Los Alcazares underground car park where Finnigan and Topal were due to meet a buyer that Mhanni had set up.
They were greeted by five police officers with Topal firing twice at one of them before he was subdued.
All four men have been jailed, and despite the UK extradition request for Finnigan, he will firstly face arms trafficking charges as well as for attacking a police officer.
Hasan Topal has also been charged with attempted murder.
