Infamous drug trafficker connected with Colombian cartels arrested in Marbella

‘Don Carlos’, one of the world’s most infamous drug traffickers and linked to the big Colombian cartels of Medellín and Cali, was arrested on Saturday in Marbella. Police officers caught him while he was having a coffee in an establishment in Marbella. National Police arrested the trafficker as he was negotiating the transfer of 60 kilos of cocaine from Seville to Malaga, which had been smuggled into the country in boxes of flowers.

Spanish police had the cooperation of the Colombian police authorities and had been investigating 'Don Carlos' for a year and a half, after learning that he was going to import large quantities from South America.

As well as seizing the drugs which had had been hidden the bottom of a car boot, they also arrested two individuals for their alleged involvement in the operation.

Officers also searched Don Carlos’s home, where they found a revolver with ammunition and more than 200,000 euros in cash that he kept inside cardboard boxes lined with black plastic. In addition, real estate assets worth 350,000 euros are to be blocked and requests to block the accounts of three people and six companies have issued as they are believed to be connected with the operation.

Spain’s National Police have been on the trail of F.C.F.G., the drug trafficker known as 'Don Carlos', since 1993, when the first indications were made that he had significant contacts with well-known traffickers in Europe and South America. He was subsequently sentenced to 24 years in prison for his role as the leader of an organisation which, among other crimes, kidnapped two women and used them as bargaining chips for an outstanding debt from drug trafficking.