A JOINT Policia Nacional- Guardia Civil operation has brought down an Alicante province-based criminal gang with 14 Spaniards arrested.
The group has been charged with selling drugs, laundering money, committing violent robberies and with dangerous driving.
Seized items included weapons and narcotics, as well as bogus Guardia Civil clothing that would have been used in ‘take downs’ of rival drug gangs.
The ringleader, 34, operated out of the El Rabal district of Villena and the gang’s primary function was to obtain drugs that they supplied to other criminal groups in Alicante province, Murcia, and Albacete.
The enterprise was so substantial that supplies were transported up to four times a day from Villena.
Police inquiries started at the start of the year and in early June, officers thwarted an attempted robbery in Albacete which saw eight arrests including the group’s boss.
Additional home searches in Villena and Campo de Mirra yielded six additional arrests including two women involved with managing the organisation and looking after the drug stashes.
The vast majority of those detained had criminal records for similar offences.
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