Orihuela court frees Irish mobster John Gilligan for a pink cocaine lab case

John Gilligan, the legendary Irish mobster, has been released after paying €10,000 bail. Gilligan had been imprisoned since late January after a synthetic drug laboratory was discovered at his residence on the Orihuela Costa. Eight persons were detained earlier this year as part of a National Police operation to dismantle a pink cocaine (tusi) manufacturing laboratory capable of producing 300 to 600 kilogrammes of the drug.

At least two additional people caught during this operation were already released owing to delays in getting drug purity reports. Gilligan’s defence counsel, Aitor Esteban Gallastegui, has gained bail for the suspect after the awaiting analysis is presented. According to sources consulted by this newspaper, the suspect secured €10,000 bond on Friday, August 29th, and was freed that afternoon. He has spent nearly eight months in pretrial custody since his arrest.

Gilligan is a historic Irish mafia boss who has starred in films about the country’s organised crime history. This is the case in the 2003 film about the murder of journalist Veronica Guerin, starring Cate Blanchett and named after her. Gilligan, 72, was acquitted of the crime in June 1996 and had lived in the Vega Baja area for many years. A revolver similar to the one used in the reporter’s murder was seized at his Torrevieja house, and one of the offenders is serving a life term in Ireland. Gilligan was sentenced to mild sentences in September 2023 for allegedly leading a drug and sleeping pill network that was transported via postal parcel from Vega Baja to Ireland.

Police arrested him again in January of this year, following an inquiry into several address changes between the suspected gang members’ towns of Murcia and Alicante. These movements could have been an attempt to conceal their whereabouts. Finally, a home-made drug lab dedicated to large-scale synthesis of pink cocaine and other substances was dismantled. Specifically, security forces had observed an upsurge in the usage of these narcotics in Murcia’s recreational areas. The covert laboratory was situated in a mansion near Orihuela Costa. In the following days, more searches were conducted in the Murcian district of La Alberca, where additional quantities of this narcotic were discovered.

The UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) has identified a Macedonian family clan that allegedly worked under Gilligan’s directions to manufacture and distribute various types of narcotics in Murcia.

Substances discovered

In addition to the seized drugs, authorities discovered drug production apparatus, a pistol hidden among some bricks on the property, and a large number of cell phones. A search of the suspect’s home turned up more than 16 kilogrammes of tusi, two and a half kilogrammes of cocaine, 640 litres of legal chemicals used in drug manufacturing, 93.5 kilogrammes of cutting agents used to make other synthetic drugs, and a drum of methylamine, key ingredients in the production of methamphetamine, a highly flammable and toxic substance.

Tusi (sometimes known as “pink cocaine”) is a designer drug that has no fixed composition. It typically contains MDMA, ketamine, caffeine, lidocaine, and minor doses of 2C-B. Because there is no standard recipe and each clandestine laboratory uses different ingredients, the effects can vary widely and be unpredictable. These include cardiovascular, neurological, psychological, and gastrointestinal issues.

Author: Derek Appleton