[Regnum] The Spanish National Police caught a group that supplied cocaine to various countries, including Russia, with the help of fruit export companies, according to the Spanish law enforcement website.According to the Spanish police, the investigation into the activities of the group began in 2020, when information was received that an Italian businessman of Argentine origin was in the country. According to preliminary data, he controlled enterprises that exported Ecuadorian bananas to Europe, including Russia.
“During the operation, which involved the coordinated participation of more than 800 agents, a total of 32 people were arrested: 13 in Spain, 18 in Ecuador and one in the UK. All of them belonged to a criminal structure based in Ecuador, which was credited with the seizure of 3,210 kilograms of cocaine in various countries, as well as 200 kilograms of the illegal drug imported into Spain through the port of Algecira,” the Spanish department said.
As noted by the Spanish National Police, the complexity of the investigation required international cooperation, coordinated at the judicial level by the Special Anti-Drug Prosecutor's Office and at the police level with Europol. Moreover, in order to detain the group, the joint efforts of the ministries of the interior of Spain, Ecuador and Russia, as well as the interior attachés in Albania, Belgium, the Netherlands and Turkey, were involved.
As reported by IA Regnum, on January 24, in St. Petersburg, customs officers seized a shipment of cocaine worth 13 billion rubles.
According to the customs service, the container contained contraband weighing 1,200 kilograms. The drugs were discovered when the container was scanned. The inspectors saw that among the bags of coffee were briquettes containing white powder.
The examination showed that it was cocaine. A criminal case was opened on this fact.