FOUR Irishmen have been arrested in Spain following a massive drugs seizure involving gardaí and Spanish police.
€3.4m worth of cannabis herb was seized in Malaga during a recent operation involving the Garda National Drugs & Organised Crime Bureau and Spain’s Policía Nacional and Guardia Civil.
The 170kg of drugs were found hidden behind pallets of lettuce in a truck destined for Ireland.
The four Irish nationals, aged 56, 45, 35 and 33, were detained on May 6 along with a 27-year-old Romanian man.
They are currently before the courts in Spain.
(Image: An Garda Síochána)The Policía Nacional said those arrested have been charged with belonging to a criminal group, drug trafficking and document forgery.
Assistant Commissioner John O’Driscoll, who has responsibility for Special Crime Operations within An Garda Síochána, said: "We are very grateful to the Spanish law enforcement authorities for their ongoing and very productive cooperation with the Garda Síochána in tackling organised crime groups operating in both Spain and Ireland.
“This Operation has dealt another significant blow to the capacity of the organised crime groups involved to continue their trade in controlled substances.”
Policía Nacional said that the investigation began in April after they were alerted by gardaí to a group of Irish nationals on the Costa del Sol planning to export drugs to Ireland.
They added that the arrests have led to the complete dismantling of the drug trafficking organisation.
Operación conjunta de @policia, @guardiacivil y @gardainfo 🇮🇪 ha permitido intervenir 170 kilos de marihuana que viajaban de #Málaga a #Irlanda en un camión de lechugashttps://t.co/HmDNqTiSvt
— Guardia Civil 🇪🇸 (@guardiacivil) May 17, 2018
