Spanish Guardia Civil announce arrest of ‘British national’ in Costa Del Sol raid who allegedly laundered money for the Super Cartel through real estate ventures

49 people were arrested – 10 in Belgium, 6 in France, 13 in Spain, 14 arrested in 2021 in the Netherlands as part of the same operation

Six suspects designated ‘high-level targets’, were arrested in Dubai

Police also seized supercars, luxury villas and piles of cash

‘From Dubai the leaders of this mega cartel controlled and directed the criminal activities of the different cells with the conviction that they were living in a sanctuary where they felt untouchable’ – Spanish authorities

Investigation of their operations was launched on the basis of decrypted messages from SKY phones, Dutch authorities said

A British man in his 30s suspected of being the money launderer for a transnational drug super cartel was arrested in in his luxury home on the Spanish coast  as part of a massive cocaine ring bust.
This came to light as it was revealed on Monday that a drugs ‘super-cartel’ that controlled a third of Europe’s cocaine trade was busted by police, with 49 arrests in six countries including Spain, France, Belgium, Netherlands and Dubai.
The British ‘money sanitizer’ who has a degree in quantity surveying from a London university, has been working in the real estate business after emigrating from the UK. The suspect who has not been named, is married to a college graduate, with a young daughter, claimed before his shock arrest that he was ‘fulfilling his dream’ of living in sunnier climes.
He is now being held in custody after he was arrested at his expensive villa in a quiet cul-de-sac near Marbella. Photos of the late-night raid showed the man wearing grey tracksuit bottoms, surrounded by heavily-armed masked police officers with his hands cuffed behind his back.

The detached house is close to the Westin La Quinta Golf Resort & Spa where top-tier football clubs from around Europe base themselves to use its warm winter training facilities.
The suspect, in his 30s, spent many years working for one of the UK’s leading construction companies before taking up the opportunity of a career in property development and moving to Marbella.
There is no suggestion whatsoever the real estate company where he works is involved in any wrongdoing. 

The suspect is yet to be charged with any crime.
His lawyers so far have failed in their attempts to persuade a judge to grant bail as the investigation proceeds on the basis that he has work and family ties to Spain and would not pose a flight risk.
His British wife who is still living at the couple’s $2.89million [£2.5million], villa in a quiet cul-de-sac near Marbella, has said: ‘I know my husband is totally innocent and he will prove it. This has all been such hell.’

The huge drugs ‘super-cartel’ which controlled a third of Europe’s cocaine trade was busted by police officers in six countries, with 49 people arrested in the various countries, including, Spain, Belgium, Netherlands, France and Dubai.
The Spanish part of the international police operation has resulted in the arrest of 15 people.
The landmark international operation seized $25.94million [£21.7million], worth of assets, including 30 tonnes of cocaine and the gang’s supercars, luxury villas and piles of cash.

Spanish police had said the leader of the organization is a ‘British national’ who fled his former base on the Costa del Sol for Dubai, where the Kinahan organized crime group are based, after a kidnap attempt. The cartel leader was later arrested in Dubai. Spain is now expected to try to have him extradited so he can face trial for cocaine trafficking. 
It was not immediately clear on Tuesday how long the alleged super cartel leader, who is also in his 30s and hails from the Home Counties, has been in Dubai.
Police believe he went into partnership with other drug barons to form a mega-sized criminal organization to maximize profits and minimize risks.
Another British man was arrested on the Costa del Sol, a Spanish police source said, as officers raided a series of villas in Marbella, Madrid and Barcelona.
The international effort also involved arrests in France, Belgium and the Netherlands, the EU’s police agency Europol said in a statement.
In all 49 people were arrested – Ten people in Belgium, six in France and 13 in Spain,14 people were arrested in 2021 in the Netherlands as part of the same operation, Europol said, while six suspects designated ‘high-level targets’, were arrested in Dubai.

‘The drugpins considered as high-value targets by Europol had come together to form what was known as a ‘super cartel’ which controlled around one third of the cocaine trade in Europe,’ Europol said.
‘The scale of cocaine importation into Europe under the suspects’ control and command was massive and over 30 tonnes of drugs were seized by law enforcement over the course of the investigations.’
Europol said Dubai had arrested two ‘high-value’ suspects who are linked to the Netherlands, another two linked to Spain and two more connected to France.
The agency said the crackdown in Dubai netted a ‘big fish’ from the Netherlands, who reportedly had links to alleged Dutch crime boss Ridouan Taghi, himself seized in the Gulf emirate in 2019. 
‘He was just as important as Taghi, if not more important,’ a Europol source said, referring to the Dutch suspect. 

The suspect, who has not been named, had allegedly formed an alliance in Dubai with the leaders of Irish and Italian drug gangs who had also been arrested, Dutch public broadcaster NOS said.
Spanish police said more than $517,390 [£433,000], was confiscated during a raid on a series of luxury villas in Spain, along with three weapons, high-end cars and luxury watches. The Civil Guard say some of the vehicles were worth around $310,700 [£260,000].
More than 30 tonnes of cocaine were seized in different European ports during the investigation, linked to hacks of communications between drug traffickers on encrypted phone platforms.
The international operation was codenamed Desert Light. 
The bust has been described as ‘unprecedented’ by Spain’s Civil Guard, with officers saying it sends a powerful message to drug barons and other criminal kingpins who believe they are beyond the reach of the law in Dubai. 

A video released by Europol showed agents, including some from the US Drug Enforcement Administration and Spanish Guardia Civil, arresting suspects and seizing luxury cars and hidden stashes of cash. 
The heavily armed officers were seen forcing their way into the villas before making the arrests. 
The arrests from November 8 to 19 were the latest in a series around Europe that followed a police hack of sophisticated encrypted telephones used by organized crime networks in 2021, Europol said.
Police secretly used the SKY ECC phone platform to listen in on what were supposed to be secure communications between drug traffickers.
Most of the drugs targeted came from South America through the ports of Rotterdam and Antwerp, although some had passed through South Africa.
In Spain, the Civil Guard said their operation, dubbed Operation Faukas, had begun with the seizure of 700 kilograms of cocaine in the port of Valencia in March 2020. 
A spokesman for the Spanish force said: ‘During the investigation, officers discovered a criminal organization was smuggling containers with cocaine inside through the ports of Barcelona, Valencia and Algeciras.
‘They also established that a complex real estate business had been organized on the Costa del Sol to launder the proceeds of the profits obtained from the drug-smuggling.
‘The leader of this organization was identified as a British man linked to the Costa del Sol who had to leave Spain and move to Dubai after he was the subject of a kidnap attempt.
‘From Dubai he continued to direct and coordinate the organization’s criminal activities, while at the same time maintaining drug-trafficking contacts and business interests with the rest of the drug lords based in this emirate city.’  
The Kinahan organized crime group is based in Dubai, but it is not clear if the group is linked to these raids. 
Spanish police call the operation, coordinated by Europol as part of an international operation codenamed Desert Light, ‘historic’.
‘From Dubai the leaders of this mega cartel controlled and directed the criminal activities of the different cells with the conviction that they were living in a sanctuary where they felt untouchable,’ Spanish authorities said.
Three of the suspects held in Spain are considered high-value targets by Europol.

One of the detainees in Dubai is thought to be a Panamanian national who was supplying the cocaine.
A spokesman said: ‘He is allegedly responsible for the introduction of the drugs in the Port of Manzanillo in Panama who also had links with the rest of the drug barons in Dubai.
‘The criminal organization based in Spain had two differentiated structures, the part tasked with the extraction of the drugs in maritime ports and the other responsible for laundering money through real estate firms.
‘The first part was situated between the provinces of Barcelona and Malaga and had a direct influence on Barcelona Port.
‘It consisted of two Bulgarians, one of whom was a high-value target for Europol, and three people of Spanish origin including a Barcelona port worker who was responsible for the entry and exit of vehicles.
‘The other part was composed of people who were trusted by the main leader of the criminal organization.
‘It was based on the Costa del Sol, the nerve center for its financial activities where they had bought property valued at more than $23.9million [£20million] and laundered their drugs money.’

Dutch prosecutors said they would request the extradition of the two suspects from the United Arab Emirates.
One was a 40-year-old dual Dutch-Bosnian national, suspected of smuggling 1.8 tonnes of cocaine via the German port of Hamburg in 2020, and of preparing to import 8 tonnes of raw materials for producing amphetamines via Antwerp in Belgium.
Dutch media named him as Edin G. and said he was wanted by the US DEA for his links to alleged drug kingpin Ridouan Taghi.
Moroccan-born Taghi was arrested in Dubai in 2019. He is now on trial in the Netherlands on charges of murder and running a huge Amsterdam-based cocaine smuggling group.
The other suspect is a 37-year-old dual Dutch and Moroccan national, whom Dutch media named as Zouhair B. and said had allegedly smuggled three tonnes of cocaine to the Netherlands worth more than 200 million euros.
He was also suspected of money laundering and firearms possession.
The investigation into both men was launched on the basis of decrypted messages from SKY phones, the Dutch prosecution service said in a statement.