IRISHMAN HELD IN27 DRUGS GANG RAID
Suspect quizzed over smuggling op
AN Irishman has been arrested by police in Tenerife on suspicion of using courier services to smuggle drugs hidden in everyday items including cushions and clothes.
He was held after cannabis was detected in packages sent mainly to Ireland as well as other European countries.
Police on the holiday island say they have smashed a drug smuggling gang operating out of Southern Tenerife with the arrest.
The suspect’s name and age have not yet been revealed.
Cops also released a video of themselves bursting into the man’s home with weapons drawn before carrying out a search.
A spokesman for the Civil Guard in Tenerife confirmed: “As a result of a joint investigation between Civil Guard in the port of the island capital Santa Cruz and customs officials, an Irish national has been arrested following the detection of several packages containing drugs.
“The investigation took place over several months and the detainee travelled continuously during that time to control the infrastructure he had organised in his homeland, which is the place where most of the packages were sent to.
“With this arrest, we consider one of the gangs that has been operating out of the South of Tenerife has been dismantled.
“The organisation used courier services to send the packages and hide cannabis inside everyday objects like cushions and clothing.”
It was not immediately clear yesterday if the unnamed Irishman had appeared before an investigating magistrate and whether he had been remanded in custody or released on bail.
A court in Santa Cruz is leading an ongoing criminal probe following the police arrest.
Convicted drug smuggler John Gilligan is still under investigation in a separate probe over postal deliveries to Ireland from Spain’s Costa Blanca.
The packages contained marijuana and powerful sleeping pills called Zimmos, which heroin addicts use to help them sleep and numb pain.
He was arrested last October at his home in Torrevieja before being released on bail in December. No date has yet been set for his expected trial.