Under the framework of the police operation called "Mac1- Red69", agents of the National Police, in a joint operation with the Civil Guard, have arrested 18 people -of Moroccan, French, Indian and Spanish nationalities- for the alleged commission, in different degrees of participation, of drug trafficking crimes , unlawful possession of weapons, illegal arrest, vehicle theft, falsification of documents and simulation of crime.
The investigation began in the province of Alicante, in mid-April 2020, in full alarm, upon learning of the possible existence in the province of a complex criminal organization, which would be dedicated to drug trafficking.
The first investigations focused on the Alicante regions of the Marina Alta and Baja, where some of the initial investigators would reside, although it would not take long to discover the existing connections of these people with other individuals, settled on the Costa del Sol and even in other countries, such as Morocco and France.
Already in the first moments of the investigation, it was known that, within the organization, there were two well differentiated branches; one of them, the one based on the Costa del Sol, in the towns of Estepona and Benahavís (where the main leaders resided), was in charge of the direct acquisition of the drug in Morocco.
It was composed of highly dangerous individuals (fact that made the investigation considerably difficult), of Moroccan, French and Indian nationalities.
As it could be verified in the two house searches carried out later on the Costa del Sol, this part of the organization had semi-automatic weapons. In addition, it has also been verified that the main leaders had numerous contacts with assassins and with all kinds of criminals, with extensive criminal histories.
The second branch was established in the province of Alicante, specifically in the towns of Gata de Gorgos, Teulada, Moraira and Calpe. It was made up of individuals of Moroccan and Spanish nationality and its tasks were the storage of hashish that they received from the Malaga branch and its subsequent transportation to its final destination in
France.
Thanks to the investigation, it has been learned that these members initiated contacts to purchase speedboats, of the type used for drug trafficking, valued at more than 200.000 euros.
In addition to the international transport of the drug, they also engaged in the retail of hashish, among other substances, with three drug outlets being dismantled in Gata de Gorgos, Teulada and Calpe. In the latter case, the point of sale was a hairdressing salon, run by one of the detainees, a public establishment that used to have a wide range of clients.
In the course of the investigation, the agents were able to verify the tension between the two branches. The leaders, settled in Malaga, suspected that the Alicante branch could have done a 'overturn' of drugs, that is, they had kept the hashish, so they did not hesitate to kidnap one of the members settled in the Marina region and they held him for more than twenty days, as a guarantee of payment for the drug, supposedly disappeared during one of the transports.
He was finally released, after some members of the Malaga branch moved to the town of Calpe (Alicante), in full alarm (with their corresponding mobility restriction measures in force, existing at the time) and were held to another second member of the Alicante party so that he could provide reliable evidence of the place where the drug was actually located and, in addition, they demanded that he pay them more than 300.000 euros.
Operation result
On June 2, the operation was carried out, making a total of 10 (8 in the Alicante province and 2 in the Malaga province), all of them simultaneously, for which more than 80 participated
agents.
The operation has been settled with the intervention of more than 400 kg. of hashish, various semi-automatic firearms with ammunition, more than 220.000 euros in cash and 6 high-end vehicles. So far, 18 members of the organization have been detained, of which 12 have already entered prison awaiting trial.
The investigation has been carried out under the instruction of Court number 1 of Dénia.
