A drug trafficking organisation operating throughout the Iberian peninsular has been dismantled, according to a statement released by the Spanish National Police. In an operation against the gang, 475 kilos of cocaine were seized and a total of 14 people arrested: 11 in the northwestern city of Pontevedra, two in Valencia and one in Portugal.
Police carried out nine raids during which they seized 12,000 euros in cash, 12 satellite phones, four vehicles with double bottoms and a trailer equipped with a sophisticated hydraulic hiding system, in which the organisation moved more of 300 kilos of cocaine. The Civil Guard also discovered an indoor marijuana plantation with a thousand plants that belonged to the organisation.
Investigations began last year, when police specialised in combating organised crime learned of the existence of a criminal group based in Pontevedra, made up of people with a history of drug trafficking.
In July last year, the investigation intervened in the delivery of more than 300 kilos of cocaine as it was being moved from Galicia in the north west of Spain to Valencia in its eastern Mediterranean coast.
The agents discovered the drug in a garage in the town of Quart de Poblet near Valencia, being guarded by two members of the organisation.
In Portugal, 175 kilograms of cocaine were seized which had arrived from the neighbouring Spanish province of Pontevedra. One person was arrested near Coimbra in this joint operation between the Judicial Police of Porto and the Spanish National Guard.
According to the police, the cocaine would arrive in Galicia from South America before being transported to various locations in Spain and Portugal in trailers equipped with false bottoms with capacity to store more than 300 kilograms of the drug.
The detainees used advanced technical means to avoid being detected and invested significant amounts of money in secure communications, Spanish police said.
