Mexican drug cartels have their tentacles extending into various countries and continents. (See for example Mexican Cartel Meth Labs in Europe, Asia and Africa).
In Spain, Mexico’s madre patria, police broke up operations of the CJNG – the Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación, which is based in the Mexican state of Jalisco.
From CBS News: “Spanish police on Tuesday [November 18] said they broke up the local operations of a powerful Mexican drug cartel designated a terrorist organization by President Trump, making 20 arrests. The Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) smuggled ‘large shipments of cocaine and methamphetamine’ from South America for distribution in Spain and other European countries, Spanish police said in a statement.”
This time, industrial machinery was being used to conceal drugs. What’ll these guys think of next?
“The investigation started earlier this year when police detected drugs hidden in heavy industrial machinery, which was stored on estates near Madrid and the neighboring province of Avila and transported across Spain.”
“Among the detainees were two ‘priority targets’ of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) as well as suspected members of the Italian Camorra mafia dedicated to transporting the drugs abroad.”
“The operation, carried out jointly with the DEA and Dutch authorities, seized 1.8 tons of cocaine, cash, cryptocurrency, weapons and vehicles.”
Click here for a short video showing bits of the operation in action.
Spain’s location and its cultural links with Latin America make it a logical place for cartels to get drugs into Europe.
“Spain is a major gateway to Europe for North African hashish and South American cocaine, making the country a magnet for international criminal gangs.”
Well, they caught these guys, but how many more operations like theirs are still active in Spain and elsewhere in Europe ?