Police break up speed gang
Base amphetamine confiscated could have made more than 200 kilos of the drug
NATIONAL Police have seized 52 litres of the base oil, for making the drug speed on a massive scale, in a nationwide operation which arrested nine suspects, one of them in Torrevieja.
A spokesman for the force said it is the first time that so much base amphetamine has been confiscated in Spain, which could have made more than 200 kilos of speed once treated. The other suspects were arrested in Bilbao, Burgos, Cuenca and Madrid, after an investigation which took over six months.
Police focused on two Spaniards who they knew were connected to drug dealing, which enabled them to discover the gang was periodically sending the drug from the Netherlands to northern Spain.
The gang intended to set up a laboratory in this country to treat and adulterate the drug so they could pass it on to their distribution network as quickly as possible, according to the spokesman.
The investigation identified the other gang members and the distribution network they had set up in northern and central Spain.
The drugs were smuggled inside a shipment of flowers to Bilbao, and the gang intended to store it at a rented warehouse in Balmaseda (Vizcaya).
There were four levels within the gang, with the suppliers at the top, followed by those in charge of treating and adulterating the drug, then the ones in charge of transporting it around the country in vehicles with hidden compartments, and finally the dealers who sold it to users. The spokesman explained that speed is amphetamine sulphate, which comes as volatile clear oil that is insoluble in water. Once treated, it crystallises into powder and can then be adulterated to make extra profits.
Police carried out 11 raids on the suspects’ homes, one in Madrid, four in Burgos, four in Bilbao, one in Torrevieja and one in Cuenca.
As well as the drugs, officers confiscated €45,000, five vehicles, numerous mobile phones, portable computers, documents and a replica ninemillimetre pistol.