Spanish police seize largest amount of crystal meth ever from Mexican cartel
Spanish police seized 1.8 tons of crystal meth and arrested five people from Mexico's Sinaloa Cartel earlier this month.
The raid at the eastern province Alicante marked the country's largest crystal meth seizure and second largest in Europe, Spain's national police said in a news release Thursday.
The leader of the cartel's operations in Spain was among the five people arrested. Officials also seized cash, abundant documentation, a detonating weapon and five vehicles, according to police.
The cartel members installed a complex hydraulic system in a van to hide drugs in an effort to transport the narcotic. Video posted on X (formerly Twitter) shows officials uncovering packs of methamphetamine under the floor of the van.
🚩Desarticulada la infraestructura en España del cártel de “Sinaloa” con la intervención de 1.800 kilos de metanfetamina, la segunda mayor aprehensión de #Europa
🚩Operaban desde #Tenerife, #Madrid, #Valencia y #Alicante y han sido detenidas 5 personas pic.twitter.com/YUiu2HtJeD— Policía Nacional (@policia) May 16, 2024
The cartel has operated in Tenerife, Alicante, Madrid and Valencie, the release said.
Cartel shipped cocaine through washing machines
In early 2023, police opened an investigation into the Tenerife-based group that trafficked cocaine from the peninsula to the Canary archipelago, police said.
Investigators arrested one of the people who shipped household appliances with cocaine hidden inside through legal companies unaware of what they were carrying. Police uncovered 53 pounds of cocaine hidden in washing machines.
Agents then learned that person was responsible for the trafficking operations out of the Valencia province and used a second vehicle as shuttle to "detect possible police controls," police said.
'Biggest-ever seizure of crystal meth in Spain'
"This is the biggest-ever seizure of crystal meth in Spain and the second largest in Europe," Antonio Martinez Duarte, head of the police's drug trafficking and organized crime unit, said according to CBS. "Among those arrested is a Mexican citizen linked to the Sinaloa Cartel."
Duarte implied the suspect received the narcotics in Spain before distributing them throughout Europe, CBS reported.
The organization also stored shipments of methamphetamine in houses within the Valencia region and then distributed them throughout Europe using vehicles with false bottoms, according to Duarte.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Spanish police uncover 1.8 tons of crystal meth from Sinaloa Cartel
