4 IRISH HELD OVER DRUGS IN LETTUCE
Spanish police seize 170 kilos of cannabis hidden in lorry full of vegetables
POLICE in Spain have arrested four Irish nationals after 170 kilos of cannabis was found hidden in a lorry-load of lettuce.
Investigators said the drugs were on their way here and the seizure has led officers to the gang behind the illegal trade.
The criminal organisation was foiled in a joint operation involving Spanish National Police, Guardia Civil officers and gardai.
A Spanish National Police spokesman confirmed four of the five people arrested were Irish with the fifth thought to be a Romanian national.
The operation leading to the arrests began last month following a Garda tip-off. A Spanish National Police spokesman said: “They alerted Spanish police about a Costa del Sol-based Irish gang which was smuggling drugs into Ireland.
“Investigators identified several suspects, some based on the Costa del Sol and Cops got a tip-off last month One of gang is led away by police others who had travelled from Ireland to supervise a shipment which they appeared to be preparing to send to their country.” They added the officers waited until the gang’s operation was “imminent”.
The spokesman said: “The detainees had hidden the cannabis in a lorry trailer which left an industrial estate in Alhaurin de la Torre towards Cordoba.
“The lorry was intercepted at kilometre 51 of the A45 and after a five-hour search, the drugs were located hidden between pallets of lettuce.
“The operation has culminated in the arrest of five people and the total Officers open lettuce to find drugs dismantlement of the drug trafficking organisation.”
Three vehicles, three computers and 10 mobile phones were among other items subsequently seized by police.
The 20 tonnes of lettuce the drugs were hidden among were sent to food banks.
The detainees, who have not been named, will appear before a judge in a closed court hearing.
They are expected to be remanded in custody on suspicion of crimes including drugs trafficking and membership of a criminal organisation pending an ongoing criminal probe.
The exact destination of the drugs in Ireland has not been revealed.
tonnes is the weight of the lettuce in which the drugs were found