Spanish police bust cocaine lab near Madrid, detain 25 suspects

Tue, 18 Jan 2011

Madrid - Spanish police have dismantled what they believe to be the biggest cocaine laboratory discovered in Europe so far and detained 25 people, police said Tuesday.

The laboratory was located on a property near Madrid. Police confiscated 300 kilograms of drugs ready for distribution, 33 tons of chemical products, 2 million euros (2.6 million dollars) in cash, weapons, luxury vehicles and more than 470 mobile phones.

Police also seized property and assets worth 50 million euros.

The detainees included Colombian and Spanish nationals. Some of them belonged to a Madrid law firm which apparently helped to launder the suspects' earnings, the daily El Pais reported.

The ring used bodyguards, as well as a string of flats for its criminal activities. The arrests followed two years of investigation.

Meanwhile in the northern city of Zaragoza, police dismantled a smaller cocaine ring, detaining 15 people and seizing 1.5 kilograms of the drug. The suspects were of Colombian, Dominican, Dutch and Spanish origin.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/362843,madrid-detain-25-suspects.html.