Arrest of one of 51 people in a huge drugs operation in Mallorca

The operation was in October last year. | Alejandro Sepúlveda

Andrew EdePalma19/07/2024 08:37
TW
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The Prosecutor's Office is calling for sentences totalling 442 years for 51 people who were arrested in October last year following an operation that brought down the largest ever drugs network in Mallorca.

This network transported vast quantities of cocaine from the mainland (Barcelona and Valencia). The drugs arrived on the island by truck, mainly at the port in Alcudia. They were hidden among goods that were being brought to Mallorca.

From the port the drugs were moved to a storage unit on the industrial estate in Marratxi. This was the point of supply to drugs gangs. One of the accused is 'El Ove', a notorious drugs baron in the Palma shanty town of Son Banya. The combined operation by the Guardia Civil and National Police didn't only target Son Banya; there were a number of other important drugs sales points that had been supplied.

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One of the ringleaders was a Spanish truck driver. He and others recruited drivers to hide drugs in their normal loads. The cocaine for delivery to Mallorca was acquired from two South American organisations.

The Guardia Civil and National Police had been conducting separate investigations into the suspected network. The two forces combined and some 600 officers took part in simultaneous raids - seventy in Mallorca as well as in Catalonia and Valencia.

Individual sentence demands are eleven and a half years for the ringleaders and ten years for most of the others. In addition, fines are put at three million euros. The charges are belonging to a criminal organisation and offences against public health (the supply of illegal drugs).