Spanish cops have arrested four people after they smashed a scam that saw hundreds of thousands of euro worth of cannabis sent to Ireland by post.
Guardia Civil officers made their move against the suspects in the last week – but had been investigating them for more than three months.
Officers suspect the gang, led by a British man, was sending cannabis to Ireland from the towns of San Miguel de Salinas and Orihuela Costa – both of which are near Alicante.
The cops began their probe – codenamed Operation Topila – in February when officials seized €40,000 worth of cannabis inside a bag at Madrid’s Barajas Airport that was being sent on a flight to Ireland.
As the investigations progressed, agents intercepted another shipment at the same airport and identified a man as the main person responsible and a woman who supposedly helped him , both of whom lived in Orihuela Costa in the Alicante area.
Both had police records for other crimes, cops said. The police tried to arrest the main suspect in March when he was chased by a Guardia Civil team, but he managed to escape.
They thought they had him cornered at a service station in Madrid, but he jumped over several high fences and ran across train tracks to elude them.
But he abandoned his car at the scene and when officers searched it they recovered 54 kgs of cannabis destined for Ireland – worth more than €1 million.
They then launched a manhunt for the fugitive and discovered he was hiding in San Miguel de Salinas, a town 12 kms west of Torrevieja, where several Irish gangs who also send drugs to Ireland via post are based – including an outfit led by pint sized mobster John Gilligan (71).
Gilligan, who was acquitted of the 1996 murder of crime reporter Veronica Guerin in Dublin but jailed for 20 years for cannabis importation, is currently before the court in Torrevieja for alleged drug smuggling.
The Dubliner was charged with four crimes following his arrest in October 2020 at his former home in Torrevieja.
State prosecutors want an 18-month prison sentence for unlawful weapons possession after a gun was found hidden in the back garden of the detached property.
Prosecutors also want Gilligan jailed for another two years if convicted of smuggling cannabis into Ireland via the mail, four years for illegally exporting powerful sleeping pills and 10 months for membership of a criminal gang.
His conviction on all four charges could result in a prison sentence of eight years and four months. Guardia Civil officers tracked down the British suspect for the latest scam last week.
He and three others were arrested in San Miguel de Salinas and were charged with drug trafficking, refusing to follow lawful orders from police and belonging to a criminal group.
Cops seized another €1.2 million of cannabis in the raids, as well as cash and other drugs paraphernalia.The gang leader was recently refused bail., but the other three suspects were all let out pending their trial.
It’s at least the third scam busted by Spanish cops that saw drugs sent to Ireland by post in recent years.
As well as the Gilligan gang operation, cops also busted one run by associates of Sligo criminal Barry Young (38) – which was also based in the Torrevieja area.
Gardai from Sligo flew to Alicante in April to assist their colleagues in that operation.
Young has now admitted directing a crime gang in Ireland, but was planning to set up a new crime empire in Torrevieja - before gardai from Sligo nailed him.
He could be jailed for up to life by the non jury Special Criminal Court.
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