Cali Cartel Front Man In The UK Nabbed In Spain

Story By: Juan Fenandez Mayes,  Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency:  Newsflash

The man who acted as a representative for the Cali Cartel operation in the UK which at one stage was responsible for up to 80 percent of the cocaine coming into Europe has been arrested while hiding in Spain after fleeing from Dutch police.

Spanish cops say the unnamed man that was once number one on the European most wanted list was a key figure in the notorious Cali Cartel negotiating the flood of cocaine into both the UK and the Netherlands, and who had now moved to work in cryptocurrency where he handled millions of dollars before he was seized.

The arrest was carried out by the Spanish National Police as a result of an investigation that started in 2018, according to a police report from yesterday (Sunday).

The report says the man is “an important Dutch drug-trafficker” with Colombian origins who “represented” the Cali Cartel in Europe for many years, “mainly” in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.

Newsflash

The suspect had recently moved to the resort town of Marbella located in the famous Spanish region of Malaga,in the summer before investigations started after pressure by police in the Netherlands where he was previously living.

He is thought to have laundered capital “at a large scale” earning him large sums of money which he then used to move more than EUR 6 million (GBP 5.43 million) in cryptocurrency and created a business in the sector but did not declare it to authorities given the illegal origins of the funds.

According to investigations by Dutch authorities, the suspect is thought to have ascended to his high position in the cartel where he started off as a middle man.

Newsflash

The video shows the moment cops raid a large luxury home where they find large sums of cash stashed across the residence.

At one point, the suspect, who has not been named, is seen handcuffed lying face-down on the floor as agents continue to search the premises with the use of sniffing dogs.

The video ends showing police collecting evidence and placing the suspect in a patrol car.

Newsflash

According to the police report, cops found EUR 85,000 (GBP 76,865) in cash, three luxury watches with one valued at EUR 17,000 (GBP 15,373) and another EUR 8,000 (GBP 7,234), one luxury car and a further two vehicles.

They also found more than 15 credit cards, documentation, several computers and mobile phones which they suspect he used to run his illegal money operations.

The report adds Dutch police also searched a home belonging to him in the city of Delft located near Rotterdam where they found a further EUR 170,000 (GBP 153,731) in cryptocurrency and numerous documentation.

Newsflash

It is unclear if he has been formally charged with anything or when he is expected to stand trial.

The Cali Cartel was created after members broke away from Pablo Escobar’s infamous Medellin Cartel. The Cali Cartel is thought to have controlled 80 percent of the cocaine coming into Europe as well as 80 percent of the global cocaine trafficking during their peak.

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