As part of two different investigations, National Police agents have arrested six persons after shutting down two drug trafficking locations in Benidorm (Alicante), which is the city’s “most touristic” region.
The Judicial Police Brigade carried out the operations at the same time, which led to “significant seizures” of drugs, cash in different currencies, distribution tools, mobile phones, and cars that were said to have been used for illegal activities, according to a police statement.
The first inquiry was on an association in Benidorm that was thought to be involved in illicit activities related to drug sales. It led to a location extremely close to the major entertainment area where “a high number of foreign citizens” gather.
At first, it looked like the business didn’t have much going on, even though it advertised itself as one of the top coffee shops in Europe, primarily to foreign tourists staying in the city. Customers were told that they had to call or message the business ahead of time, which is a type of “pre-access control.”
Meanwhile, a second probe began after officials were told about cocaine transactions at a hotel in Benidorm. The National Police said that the restaurant in question was in a limited pedestrian corridor, which made it easier for its patrons to see police officers ahead of time.
In addition, the “large influx of people” and the fact that there were “multiple entrances and exits” made it harder to keep an eye on things in a leisure setting that was “very crowded with foreign visitors.”
Advertising on social media
During the first inquiry, authorities found out that the main suspect was selling drugs without any restrictions, using a framework that is common in legal businesses.
He is said to have used social media and stickers with QR codes that sent people to messaging apps where they could see whole catalogues of products and pricing.
The police said that the building had a “significant” security and privacy system, including windows covered with opaque material that made it impossible to see inside, multiple entrances and exits that made it easy to escape, a metal grille for added security, and a closed-circuit video surveillance system.
The property also had a “strong smell of marijuana,” was “strategically located,” and was “very close to a hotel zone with a lot of foreign tourists.”
The suspect is said to have offered over 30 different kinds of marijuana, electronic cigarettes filled with THC, and food produced with cannabis, even going so far as to “promote free home deliveries for orders over 50 euros.”
The suspect’s home in the nearby village of La Vila Joiosa was said to be a “nursery” for the drug, while the location “served only as an advertising hook and apparent base of operations.”
Surveillance, collection, and control
In the second investigation, police found out who was in charge of the pub, and one of them was the owner. The suspects are said to have done monitoring, recruitment, and control from the building, utilising outdoor planters to hide doses that were ready to be sold fast. They also possessed cameras that could see through walls.
The officers decided that both the facilities and the homes that were raided looked like real “stash houses” where drugs were kept and hidden before being sold. This distribution happened from a business that looked like it was on the up and up in a region with a lot of tourists. There was a “large influx of people” at this place, and the suspects are said to have “briefly interacted before quickly leaving.”
Searches and arrests
In the raids and searches carried out in both investigations, the Citizen Security Brigade of Benidorm actively collaborated, providing operational support to the Judicial Police Brigade in securing the inspected points and controlling access during the intervention.
Finally, there were two entries and searches in the first incident (the establishments in Benidorm and the suspect’s home in La Vila Joiosa) and four in the second (in three homes and the hospitality establishment under investigation).
In the first case, the police took about six and a half kilos of marijuana, almost one kilo of hashish, more than 50 packets of THC-laced gummies, fifty electronic inhalers with THC refills, more than 62,000 euros in cash, more than 900 pounds sterling, smaller amounts of Irish pounds and Swiss francs, several high-end mobile phones, and promotional materials with numbers and QR codes that led to social media. The alleged perpetrator, a 30-year-old man, was arrested at his home in La Vila Joiosa and brought before the duty magistrate in Benidorm.
In Benidorm, on the other hand, police arrested five persons as part of the second investigation. There are three males and two women, and they are all between the ages of 34 and 67. They also took more than €40,000 in cash, more than £10,000, almost £2,000, more than £5,000, marijuana, MDMA, almost 700 grammes of cocaine, tools they say were used to cut, package, and prepare doses for sale, and three cars used in the illegal activities.
Two of the people who were arrested were taken to the duty magistrate in Benidorm. All five are being investigated for drug trafficking and belonging to a criminal organisation.
The National Police say that these two operations have helped them shut down “two black spots for the sale of small amounts of drugs in one of the busiest areas visited by foreign tourists.”
Author: Derek Appleton
Other Articles
No Comment! Be the first one.