Marbella gang open fire on police after discovery of underground cocaine den

The National Police have arrested four suspects during a surveillance operation in Marbella's Ricmar forest, where they found an underground den with 1,056 kilos of cocaine.

The operation took place on a day when the police knew that there would be a drug transfer on the coast of Malaga. After hours of surveillance, the police saw a high-capacity vehicle heading towards the beach. The car looked like it was performing suspicious manoeuvres to check for police presence around the forest.

When it entered the forest, the police followed it. They saw three people beating up a third individual in what looked like a fight between criminal gangs.

Two of the individuals had submachine guns and police vests. When they saw the police, they started running and opened fire on the investigators. Eventually, the police arrested them.

During the search, the police found a large drug den hidden in the ground. Inside, they found 30 sacks containing a total of 1,056 kilos of cocaine. They also discovered a camera that the criminal organisation had been using to monitor the road.

The police also seized three high-end vehicles (two of them stolen), weapons of war (an AK-47, an AR15 assault rifle and an UZI submachine gun), three small arms, various police equipment, transmission equipment and frequency jammers.

The detainees were brought before the courts as alleged perpetrators of attempted homicide, illegal possession of weapons, crimes against public health, criminal group membership, theft/burglary and forgery of documents.