More than 1,500 kilos of cocaine seized in Ría de Arousa: four arrested
The National Police intercepted a cocaine haul of more than 1,500 kg in A Pobra do Caramiñal. At least four people were arrested in the operation.
Large cocaine haul intercepted in A Pobra do Caramiñal during Saturday's early hours
According to diariodepontevedra.es, agents from the National Police Force intercepted a shipment of more than 1,500 kilos of cocaine in the early hours of Saturday in Ría de Arousa, Galicia, surpassing in quantity a haul found days earlier on a beach in A Costa da Morte.
The operation was led by the Central Drugs Squad with the support of officers from the police stations in Pontevedra and Ribeira, amongst others. Dozens of agents, both uniformed and plainclothes, participated in the action. The drug was located in a storage facility situated in A Pobra do Caramiñal, on the northern side of Ría de Arousa, about to be transported to an unknown destination.
At least four people were arrested during the operation, although the number of detainees and the total amount of drugs seized could increase in the hours that followed, given that agents maintained a broad deployment in the area during Saturday night. Throughout the afternoon, investigators also carried out searches in the vicinity of Conchido beach, close to Boiro.
The operation again places A Pobra do Caramiñal in the spotlight of drug trafficking just a few months after Operation Saona, in which 3,650 kilos of cocaine were seized. Among those arrested are numerous people linked to the Os Fanchos clan, with roots in the Barbanza peninsula and a long track record related to drug trafficking and poaching in the Arousa region. This clan maintained family ties with José Enrique Abuín Gey, El Chicle, convicted of the abduction, rape and murder of Diana Quer approximately a decade ago.
A relevant element of the operation points once again to the presence of the Balkan Cartel in alliance with Galician organisations. In this case, an individual of Croatian origin was located at the moment the shipment was about to be transported, in a similar dynamic to that of another recent operation in which a Serbian citizen collected drugs from people linked to Los Charlines.
The cocaine was stored in a property situated next to the coastline, a location that facilitated the direct introduction of the haul from the ría. The police action confirms that Galicia continues to be one of the main entry points for cocaine for international criminal organisations.
Source: Google News ES — Crime (es)