The Guardia Civil has seized 1.5 tonnes of cocaine in Almería, in the largest police operation ever carried out against this drug in this Andalusian province. The substance was hidden in a house in La Puebla de Vícar, a town belonging to the municipality of Vícar (28,835 inhabitants), one of the properties registered in an action that allowed the arrest of 16 people as well as the seizure of five weapons, several vehicles and 22,000 euros in cash, among other effects. The sub-delegate of the Government of Almería, José María Martín, assured that this is a “historic” intervention included in the Special Security Plan for the Gibraltar Camp to fight organized crime.
The investigation began on May 21, Jesús Miras, commander of the Civil Guard of Almería province, said on Friday. That day, an intervention by the Roca Group of El Ejido – a unit specialized in preventing and combating robberies in rural areas, as well as in agricultural and livestock farms – discovered an indoor plantation of almost 500 specimens of marijuana in Lucainena, a hamlet of the municipality of Alcolea. The documentation found made it possible to identify some members of a criminal group dedicated to drug trafficking with “perfectly organized” members, according to investigative sources. Among them was also the gang leader, whom the other criminals called “boss” or “king”, as the officers were able to confirm during the investigation.
The analysis also provided clues to activity in two other homes. On the one hand, that in Pechina, where another illegal harvest was expected due to the existence of “a multitude of air conditioners” and the “disproportionate” amount of electricity consumed. Instead, a house in La Mojonera from which the drugs were sold.
When the agents managed to determine the structure and functioning of the organization – the vast majority, belonging to the same family and of Spanish nationality -, the Guardia Civil launched an operation to carry out several interventions in parallel in different houses and apartments in the municipalities of Pechina, Viator, Roquetas de Mar, La Mojonera, Vícar and El Ejido with the participation of approximately 120 agents. As a result, 16 people were arrested. And a total of five firearms, 9 mm caliber ammunition, 22,000 euros in cash, 24 high-end watches, encrypted mobile phones, precision scales and a geolocation cancellation beacon system were found in the properties.
The biggest surprise, however, came for investigators when they found hundreds of packages of cocaine in a property in La Puebla de Vícar, many of which had several stickers that are usually used to tell who the buyer is. In total they amounted to almost 1,500 kilos, which represents the largest seizure of this narcotic substance in Almería. At the moment, the origin of the drug, whose purity is being analyzed, is not known, nor whether its destination was retail or international distribution. Its value would be between 45 and 90 million euros on the black market depending on whether it is sold wholesale or retail, according to calculations based on the price that the Spanish Observatory on Drugs and Addiction (OEDA) attributes to cocaine.
The head of the Almería Command, José Antonio Carvajal, explained that the operation, called Lukenan and coordinated by the investigative section of the court of instance number 2 of Berja, is part of the Campo de Gibraltar special security plan to combat organized crime. According to him, this year this work served to arrest and investigate 261 people suspected of drug trafficking or smuggling during 50 operations. In them, 132 firearms and almost half a million marijuana plants were seized – 414,307 to be precise – as well as 1,420 kilograms of hashish and 1,500 kilos of cocaine. Carvajal also specified that the dismantling of criminal organizations dedicated to drug trafficking also resulted in the seizure of 86,348 liters of petrol, 65 boats and 51 vehicles, including three buses.
