Four Dutch people and a Spaniard who injected sweets with drugs have been arrested by the Spanish police. The drugs were sent by post throughout Europe.
The rounded up gang was led by a couple from the Netherlands. This happened from the Costa del Sol. The organization had set up a complex network of companies for the concealment and laundering of capital. This concerns companies and houses in Fuengirola, Mijas and Estepona.
Sugar out, drugs in
In Mijas the organization had two storage spaces. In one of those rooms they placed all legal goods, such as snacks and candy that did not contain narcotics. From there, smaller amounts of candy were brought to the other room. There was a laboratory there, where the sugars were first removed from the sweets. The sweets were then injected with drugs.
The police carried out several house searches on the Costa del Sol, but also in Maspalomas on Gran Canaria. Authorities seized 12,000 bags of candy and snacks containing THC (the substance from cannabis) and packages of cocaine. Firearms, cash, real estate and luxury cars were also seized. Accounts with a total of 620,000 euros were blocked.
A spokesperson for the Policia Nacional tells RTL News that the case came to light after a tip from Belgium. A Dutchman who came to pick up packages at a collection point caught the eye. Through that man the police tracked down the Dutch in Spain.
Research showed that the Dutch had a history of purchasing large quantities of sweets. Sometimes shipments of candy came from the Netherlands, but they also bought it directly from factories on the Spanish east coast and in China.
Police believe the number of bags of candy sent by the gang far exceeds the 12,000 bags found on the day of the arrest.
Images of the police operation can be seen below:
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Fight against drug gangs in southern Spain
“The Spanish police have recently announced three or four successes every week in the fight against international drug gangs operating from the Costa del Sol. These gangs come from all over the world to the south of Spain because it is a favorable place for them is to work,” says correspondent Richard Hogenkamp.
“There are container ports where smuggling can be done quite unnoticed. There are many places in the area where you can keep things such as a storage facility or a laboratory well hidden. If you have to flee, you can easily reach Morocco in a fast boat. The gangs have been attacked in recent years. very numerous and powerful. It was then decided that more had to be done. Quite a few gangs have been rounded up recently, but the reality is that the number of gangs that are still continuing undisturbed is many times greater.”
