Thirty arrests in two drug raids in Barcelona

BarcelonaTwo large drug raids in Barcelona have ended with people arrested in the city. On the one hand, one operation – which is still underway – has focused on the Paral·lel area, where five of the twelve simultaneous searches across the city were carried out. This police operation against organised crime and drug trafficking has already led to the arrest of 14 people in Barcelona and another in Vigo. The operation, ordered by a court in Cadiz, is led by the Central Operational Unit of the Guardia Civil, with the support from its officers in Barcelona, which were also helped by a helicopter that has flown over Barcelona since the early hours of the morning, which also generated complaints from many residents.

On the other hand, the other police investigation centred around Barcelona's port, which was used by a criminal gang to smuggle drugs into Europe. They hid cocaine and methamphetamine in concrete blocks, which made it undetectable to port controls. This operation resulted in the largest methamphetamine seizure in history (over 2,500 kilos), as well as over 1,370 kilos of cocaine and 17,000 litres of chemicals used to make narcotics.

After three years of investigation, the arrest of 16 people in Barcelona, Tarragona, Talavera de la Reina and Valencia, as well as in the Netherlands and Turkey, dismantles these drugs' main route into Europe. The group was established in Spain and the Netherlands and was linked to the Mexican Beltrán Leyva cartel. In addition, the investigation also revealed that large amounts of money from the United Arab Emirates and Hong Kong were being smuggled to Mexico using Spanish bank accounts.