Five Brits arrested in Benidorm drug bust
Spanish police say they have smashed a British gang running a drugs operation out of a campsite in Benidorm.
Authorities said the enterprise was so big there was a regular drugs route between Spain and the UK in addition to the drugs being sold to British holidaymakers on the campsite itself, as well as other Costa Blanca towns outside Benidorm.
Officers intercepted over 60 kilos of cannabis hidden inside heavy machinery that was due to be transported to the UK via Madrid airport, according to Mail Online.
Three British men, aged 39, 42 and 64, a 29-year-old British woman and a 36-year-old Lithuanian man have been arrested and remanded in custody.
A fifth Brit, aged 36, has been held at a jail in Madrid where he was awaiting extradition on unrelated offence.
A spokesman for the Guardia Civil in Alicante said in a statement: "The Civil Guard and Tax Agency have smashed a criminal organisation in Benidorm involved in drugs trafficking at a campsite.
"Six people, including five Brits have been arrested on suspicion of drugs offences and membership of a criminal gang."
He added: "The members of this largely British-led organisation thought this campsite, where 2,500 people stay in high-season, was the ideal place to base their neuralgic centre of operations among compatriots.
"One of the alleged ringleaders of the group resided there permanently and controlled seven plots with caravans used to store and sell the drugs.
"Investigators concluded the drug trafficking gang had reached international dimensions and had established a route between the UK and Spain."
Lisa
Lisa joined Travel Weekly nearly 25 years ago as technology reporter and then sailed around the world for a couple of years as cruise correspondent, before becoming deputy editor. Now freelance, Lisa writes for various print and web publications, edits Corporate Traveller’s client magazine, Gateway, and works on the acclaimed Remembering Wildlife series of photography books, which raise awareness of nature’s most at-risk species and helps to fund their protection.
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