Palma.The Central Government delegate in the Balearics, Ramón Socías said yesterday that with the arrests which had been made last Wednesday and the disbanding of the Los Cortes gypsy clan led by their chief, El Forrito, all other drug dealers remaining in the infamous Palma suburb were of minor importance.
However, sources close to the investigation said that such smaller gangs were just waiting to step in to the shoes of the clans whose operations have now been brought to a halt.
The same sources said that eight people who were arrested in the Operation Benazir drug swoop last Wednesday appeared yesterday morning in court in Palma after being interrogated at length on Thursday. Many of the detainees were already known to the police as they had previous convictions for drug-trafficking.
The Cortes drug gang had been particularly active in its dealings since the arrest and imprisonment of Son Banya's gangland matriarch La Paca. The Cortes clan have been accused of bringing kilos of narcotics into Majorca every month.
Police surveillance at spots in Son Banya - and more widely in Palma which are known to be drug selling points - has been ongoing for months. The Guardia Civil had already carried out a raid at one site in which they seized a kilo of heroin, but on that occasion only one man from the Magreb was arrested.
Wednesday's dawn raid was carried out on a massive scale with 197 Guardia Civil officers taking part, 70 of them were from support units stationed in Valencia and Barcelona.
Apart from the suburb of Son Banya, other addresses were searched in Son Gotleu, La Soledat, El Terreno, Genova and Son Cladera.
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