An Irishman was among 11 people in custody in Spain last night – after a bizarre row between two rival drugs gangs.
Reports in Spain say the Irishman was arrested in the town of Elche, around 30kms south west of Alicante, after a young woman was kidnapped following a botched marijuana deal.
Cops said they first became aware of the incident over the weekend when a man went to Elche national police station and claimed his girlfriend was being held hostage – and the gang was demanding a ransom to free her.
Officers then established that the couple had acted as intermediaries in a cannabis deal – and the woman had gone to an address with the gang that was meant to buy the drugs.
But that gang then turned on the mob selling the drugs – and stole the cannabis after beating up the men who were supposed to be selling it.
That gang in turn then blamed the woman for setting up the ambush and decided to hold her as hostage, as well as demanding a massive amount of money for her release.
Cops then used the woman’s phone data to track her and traced her to an address in Elche, which they placed under surveillance.
Then, after a few hours, they raided the house, rescued the hostage and arrested five men who had been holding her captive.
The cops also recovered 1.5kgs – worth around €300,000 – that the first gang had failed to rob.
The woman and her partner then fingered the gang behind that raid – and cops arrested them in nearby towns after a manhunt.
Cops said those arrested were all aged between 29 and 39 and as well as the Irishman, the prisoners included suspects from Spain, Romania and Germany.
All 11 suspects have now been remanded in custody in Elche on suspicion of drugs crimes and reports in Spain said one of them is a serious criminal with previous convictions for serious violence.
Several Irish gangs are known to be operating in the Alicante area. And just over a month ago, we confronted Irish mobster John Gilligan in the area.
The 68-year-old convicted drug dealer, whose gang murdered crime reporter Veronica Guerin in June 1996, is living in Torrevieja, around 40 minutes south of Elche.
He is currently on bail as part of a probe into a drugs operation there that saw cannabis and pills being sent to Britain and Ireland by post.
