MADRID (Reuters) – A red Ferrari worth 250,000 euros ($298,800.00) and an arsenal of weapons including revolvers and a Japanese sword were seized when 12 members of the largest drugs gang in Madrid were arrested, police said on Sunday.
The gang was very violent, according to Spain’s National Police, which found three daggers and several automatic weapons during a series of raids, along with 600 kg of cocaine.
Some 700,000 euros ($836,640.00)in cash was seized, along with 20 expensive cars, including the Ferrari.
A “drugs lawyer” carried out legal duties for the organisation including money laundering, police said, while gang members used code names to refer to other members of the organisation or apartments used to store the cocaine.
Gang members lived in luxury properties but had no sign of legal employment.
“According to the investigators, it was the largest cocaine distribution organisation in the Spanish capital,” police said in a statement.
A police video showed officers removing a bag full of cash from a hidden compartment in the ceiling of an apartment during a raid.
The leader of the gang, who is from Morocco, liaised between drugs gangs in Colombia, Morocco, Spain and northern Europe.
Spanish police worked with counterparts in Colombia on the operation.
(Reporting by Graham Keeley; Editing by Bernadette Baum)
