Spanish police announced they had dismantled the Sinaloa cartel network and seized 1,800 kilos of methamphetamine.
Spain’s national police said it was the country’s largest ever seizure of methamphetamines.
Police said they made five arrests – a Mexican national identified as the leader of the group, as well as three Spaniards and a Romanian woman.
police also raided six properties in the Valencia region in the east of the country.
Officer Antonio Martínez celebrated “the eradication of this group” who police said was trying to establish a presence in Spain.
According to Mr. Martínez, the group used houses in isolated areas of the Valencia region to store shipments of contraband methamphetamines before using false bottom vehicles to ship them to other European countries.
“Within the National Police, we believed that the Mexican cartels were not established in Spain” said Mr. Martínez.
“But it is true that due to the pressure they face in other parts of Europe, especially against their laboratories, we see that they are trying to launch operations or install illegal laboratories in Spain to produce drugs,” he added.
The investigation continues and police said there could be further arrests.
Additional sources • AP
