Costa del Sol News

Spain busts German drug ring on Costa del Sol

06 Jun 2005 14:42:02 GMTSource: Reuters

MADRID, June 6 (Reuters) - Spanish police have dismantled a gang smuggling drugs from South America into Europe led by Germans living on Spain's Costa del Sol, the government said on Monday.
Spanish special forces stormed a German-registered yacht on the high seas carrying 113 kg (250 lb) of cocaine bound for Britain. They arrested two German citizens and an Austrian, the Interior Ministry said in a statement.
Police subsequently arrested another suspect in the town of Estepona, near the glitzy resort of Marbella on Spain's south coast, and seized a further 116 kg of cocaine aboard another sailing vessel fitted out with secret compartments.
The investigation, which began last July, culminated in the raid on the yacht on May 27. The ministry did not make the details public until now.
Meanwhile, German authorities made some 40 raids and arrested six people, at least four of whom usually live on the Costa del Sol. British police also arrested one person and confiscated the equivalent of 1.5 million euros ($1.84 million) in various currencies.
Spanish authorities said the gang has sizeable property assets and links to real estate companies in Spain, Germany and Latin America.