Following the murder of crime reporter Peter R. de Vries, El Español writes about the key role Spain plays for arms and drug traffickers from the Netherlands. According to El Español, the Dutch have the most powerful mafias in Europe.
The Spanish National Police and Guardia Civil have seized an unprecedented amount of illegal weapons, hand grenades, torture devices and tons of drugs in recent years. In most police investigations, the trail led to Dutch mafias. These mafias dominate the hash and cannabis trade within Europe and the synthetic drug trade worldwide.
According to the Spanish Unit for the Investigation of Drugs and Organised Crime (UDYCO), Spain is the main marijuana producer. The mafia from the Costa del Sol distribute it to the rest of Europe. It is also here where a mafia war has been underway for years between international gangs trying to take control of the European drug trade.
Extremely violent
“The fact they are condemned leaves them cold. They fearlessly operate on the margins of society and have their own rules,” said a National Police chief. According to the UDYCO, the Dutch gangs are extremely violent. For example, in a joint investigation by the Dutch and Spanish police, seven soundproof containers were found. Six of these were for prisoners, one was a torture container.
Spain has a key role due to its strategic location
Also in Spain, the Dutch gangs are known as the ”. Dutch people of Moroccan descent who operate in these gangs easily establish contacts with gangs in the north of Africa. These networks have expanded and now control the drug trade through Europe’s largest ports in Rotterdam and Antwerp. They also have direct contacts with the drug cartels in Colombia. Spain occupies a strategic position for the transatlantic drug trade with its location on the Atlantic Ocean and various sea routes.
Historic drug capture
According to El Español, the Dutch mafia are also in control worldwide when it comes to synthetic drugs. At the beginning of this year, the largest amount of synthetic drugs ever seized in Spain. A lengthy police investigation led to the seizure of 827 thousand MDMA pills (that is 200 kilos), 76 kilos of speed, 39.5 kilos of crystal meth, 217 litres of liquid amphetamine (enough to produce 738 kilos of speed), 310 kilos of hashish, 89 pounds of marijuana and 2,000 doses of LSD.
