TOLEDO – Agents of the Spanish police have arrested ‘the Spanish Pablo Escobar’ with 55 kilos of heroin – presumably imported via the Netherlands. They were also able to dismantle his organisation.
According to police sources, the organisation obtained large quantities of heroin from the Netherlands for distribution throughout Spain. Members used Toledo as a base for this. In addition to the main suspect, the National Police arrested 9 other persons (6 men and 3 women). Police have carried out 8 searches in several houses in Madrid, Toledo and Cáceres, as well as at a car dealership and workshop in Cáceres. Of the 10 detainees, 8 are already in custody pending trial. The network’s leader, whose identity has not yet been released, seemingly has a close relation to an international drug cartel. This, in turn, is allegedly headed by a man of Turkish nationality known as El Paralítico (The Paralytic).
Research started in March last year
The first investigations took place in March when officers discovered the prime suspect had contacted known heroin dealers. This is the leader of a notorious drug cartel from the Cañada Real, a slum in the Madrid region. After months of investigation, the police discovered that the criminal network mainly operated from the province of Toledo.
The cartel had farms and houses here in various locations, mainly in the countryside, where they hid the drug shipments. After members of the organisation processed the heroin to make higher profits, they distributed the drugs to criminal groups in Madrid, Castile and León, Castile-La Mancha and Extremadura.
Turkish connections and heroin from the Netherlands
The agents found out the main suspect travelled twice to Istanbul (Turkey) in July and September last year. There he negotiated with a Turkish cartel about the import of heroin. In this regard, a couple in the lower levels of distribution were arrested in November. They drove on the Madrid bypass without insurance and a valid MOT. When the police tried to stop the car, the couple fled at high speed. Meanwhile, they threw about 5 kilos of heroin out the window. After an intense chase, the police were able to intercept the car in Getafe (Madrid).
85 packs of heroin
Last December, the officers discovered the group was waiting for a large shipment of drugs. The man who acted as a courier for the gang picked up the drugs at a gas station on the A-1 near La Cabrera (Madrid) and immediately left for Toledo. On the way, the police stopped him and officers found 85 packages in his car containing a total of more than 51 kilos of heroin.
Further investigation confirmed the drugs came from the Netherlands. The courier was expected to have transferred the heroin to a hideout in Toledo. At this location, the prime suspect and two of his accomplices were waiting for the cargo. However, two of them smelled danger and left the location. But the third continued to guard his house, which served as storage. The operation culminated in the arrest of the three and subsequent searches of their homes. Agents found a large press for making packs of heroin, as well as €21,000 in cash, a shotgun, a pistol, a revolver, ammunition, telephones and six cars.
Confiscated goods
The police were also able to arrest the man and woman responsible for the distribution in the Cañada Real and conduct further searches. At the couple’s car dealership and workshop in Cáceres, officers found more than €51,000 in cash, as well as moulds for pressing and making packaging for heroin, jewellery, luxury watches, a pistol, a revolver, a shotgun, ammunition, 12 cars and a motorcycle.
