Marbella police arrest leader of international drug-trafficking organisation

The investigators believe the organisation made a profit of over 11,000,000 euros.

The investigation culminated in 35 raids and searches: 31 in Germany, one in Austria and three in Marbella. The police have seized 126,000 euros, five firearms, four tonnes of cannabis, nearly 28 kilograms of cocaine, 1.5 kilograms of crack and 800 litres of oil for the production of an estimated 3.2 tonnes of amphetamines.

The investigators arrested nine people: eight in Germany and one in Marbella. The Costa del Sol detainee was the leader of the organisation.

The judge has already ordered them to be remanded in custody, charging them with criminal organisation membership, drug-trafficking and money-laundering.

The investigation began in April this year, following reports of an alleged criminal organisation based in Marbella that was involved in smuggling large quantities of cocaine from Bolivia, with Europe as the final destination.

The organisation was also suspected of trafficking cannabis from the province of Malaga to various countries within the EU.

Following a series of investigations, the police discovered that the leader of the organisation was in Marbella. He was a Europol High-Value Target (HVT) with a lot of experience in drug-trafficking.

The criminal network's modus operandi was to make a monthly profit from the sale of cannabis and then use the proceeds to organise shipments of cocaine by sea from Bolivia to Europe.

To organise these shipments, the ringleader frequently travelled to Brazil, where he was able to build up a network of contacts.

Once they obtained the proceeds from drug-trafficking, they invested them in property, usually commercial premises.

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