An international operation coordinated by Europol and Eurojust allowed to dismantle this Friday, March 27, one of Scotland's most violent organized crime networks, with a total of 13 detainees in Spain and the United Kingdom. Of these, five arrests were made in areas of Malaga and Barcelona, while the rest took place in Lanarkshire, Glasgow and West Lothian.
The organization, under investigation since 2020 with the support of Europol, is accused of introducing hundreds of kilograms of cocaine into Scotland and of laundering millions of pounds through an international network of capitals, according to the European agency.
The leaders of the group operated from Spain and the United Arab Emirates, from where they directed the activities and managed the profits remotely. In parallel, in the United Kingdom they maintained control of the territory through intimidation and violence associated with drug trafficking.
Participating in the operation were the Civil Guard, the Police of Scotland, and the National Crime Agency of the United Kingdom, with Europol agents deployed both in Spain and Scotland to ensure real-time coordination.
In addition, authorities from the United Arab Emirates and Turkey collaborated in the operation. In this latter country, two plots of land, a villa, and shares in a company were seized, with an approximate value of 600,000 euros.
