- Although the organisation had its nerve centre in Albacete, it also operated across the Spanish Levante area, from where it was supplied with narcotic substances.
Agents of the National Police have carried out an operation that has seen the breakup of a criminal organisation dedicated to the trafficking of marijuana and cocaine.
The gang had its headquarters in the city of Albacete, but it also operated across the Spanish Levante area, from where it was supplied with narcotic substances. Ten members of the group have been arrested and 140 kilograms of marijuana and one kilo of cocaine have been seized.
The investigation focused on an individual who had previously been arrested in 2014 for drug trafficking and who was now running an operation that was distributing cocaine in the province of Albacete.
The police saw that, following his release from prison, the man had fallen back into his criminal activities, dealing with different types of narcotic substances.
As he gradually added to his workforce, meetings were held in a mechanical workshop in La Mancha.
The investigation found found that the group was cultivating and exporting marijuana throughout the European Union and distributing cocaine in the city of Albacete.
One gang member had access to a fleet of trucks and trailers which were used to transport the drugs simulating intra-community export operations.
During the operation, agents were able to identify two other members of the organisation, residents of the city of Albacete and the municipalities of Sangonera la Verde and Orihuela. Another of the traffickers was in charge of obtaining marijuana buds in the Murcia area, before packaging and transporting them to other European countries, where the price of the narcotic substances was much higher than in Spain.
The mastermind of the export activity was a man of Swedish nationality and of Iranian origin, resident in the Orihuela Costa, from where he found clients across Europe.
Last October a marijuana load was detected in Sangonera la Verde, Murcia, where the trucker pretended to be transporting aubergines from Almería to Sweden. Inside the truck the police found 138 kilograms of marijuana buds hidden in the load of vegetables he was transporting.
In January, another five members of the gang were arrested, and three marijuana plantations were dismantled in the towns of Librilla, Sangonera la Verde and Albacete. Cash and other effects linked to the cultivation and distribution of marijuana were also seized.
Alongside the marijuana export business, the organisation was also distributing cocaine to traffickers in the province of Albacete and just before Christmas, the leader of the organisation showed his hand in Albacete
The man was subsequently arrested with 880 grams of cocaine, which according to the investigators he intended to sell later to a trafficker in the town of Las Navas de Jorquera.
Following the arrest, searches were carried out at two drug distribution points in Albacete, where another 100 grams of cocaine, 394 grams of hashish, cash and effects for the dosage and distribution of the narcotic substance were discovered.
The result is that the police operation has now broken the gang up and arrested all of its members whilst confiscating 140 kilograms of marijuana, 1 kilogram of cocaine, 394 grams of hashish, 162 marijuana plants, 16,500 euros in cash, three vehicles and a handgun, in addition to other effects related to this criminal activity.
