Police round up Polish crime gang
Officers embargoed a portfolio of properties and financial products worth over € 3.5 million
POLICE have disbanded a Polish gang based in Alicante province, and with members in the UK, which was involved with dealing arms and drugs, amongst other crimes.
A total of 81 people have been arrested in Spain, Poland and the UK as part of an operation coordinated by Europol and involving the National Police, the Central Bureau of Investigation in Krakow, and the British police.
A National Police spokesman explained that the joint operation started in July 2018, when it detected that the Polish gang leaders in Alicante province were directing international drug trafficking and using various business activities as a cover for money laundering.
These included estate agencies, vehicle dealerships, trading in diamonds and precious metals, and renting out recreational boats, amongst others.
Members were connected with football hooligans in Krakow and with practising mixed martial arts, which the spokesman said was reflected in their violent character.
During the first phases of the operation 68 people were arrested and almost a tonne of drugs, principally marijuana and cocaine, was seized.
Officers discovered several cannabis plantations and homes used as nurseries, and seized three firearms and other prohibited weapons, as well as GPS beacons and tactical clothing the gang used to rob, extort and confront rival drug trafficking gangs.
Between 2016 and 2019, the gang exported approximately 15 tonnes of drugs from Spain to Poland, the UK and other EU countries.
Police found that the leader, based in Alicante, planned to use his international distribution networks to sell firearms from Albania.
The gang had also started to profit from the Covid19 situation by stockpiling sanitary materials.
They were helped by a Polish officer who allegedly provided the leaders with information about the investigations.
Due to the risk of leaks, and seeing that the leader had started to step up his security measures including moving to a safe house, the police launched the final phase of their operation.
They carried out 17 raids on homes and business premises in Spain and Poland, arresting another 13 people in
both countries, including the gang leaders.
Officers seized another three firearms, including a submachine gun, more than 1,000 doses of antiflu medication that could be used to make synthetic drugs, 13 mobile phones with an encryption system that were ready to be distributed to members and large amounts of documentation.
They also embargoed a portfolio of properties and financial products worth over
€ 3.5 million.
At the home of the prime suspect they found a tunnel was being built underneath it although they could not determine to where.
The documentation also led them to a warehouse being used by one of the leaders to hide a huge quantity of surgical face masks, rapid tests for Covid19 and swabs for performing PCR tests, which the gang had smuggled from China.