Story By: Juan Mayes, Sub-Editor: Joana Mihajlovska, Agency:  Newsflash

Spanish and Romanian authorities have tracked down and arrested the suspected leader of an international crime organisation for trafficking various drugs across several European countries.

The joint operation between the Spanish National Police and Romanian Police culminated in the arrest of a Romanian man known as ‘The Emperor’ or ‘Vlad Tepes’ in the capital Bucharest, according to an official report by the Spanish Ministry of Interior released on 20th November.

Investigations by Spanish police started late last year when the authorities got word that a group of Romanian men were entering the country with the aim of reinforcing or establishing contacts in Spain to obtain drugs which would then be sent to Romania.

The police said the group sent the drugs to other countries where they would sell it on for more money. The drugs they allegedly sold were primarily heroin, synthetic drugs and marijuana.

According to the official statement, the group’s leader ran operations by making frequent trips to the Spanish autonomous communities of Galicia and Valencia where he had part of his operation set up.

The first phase was carried out after authorities received intelligence that the leader’s brother was sent to Spain to establish contacts with local dealers to obtain drugs.

The suspect and an associate were arrested by agents from the Spanish National Police shortly after landing in Madrid from Romania. They were found to be in possession of four kilogrammes (8.8 pounds) of heroin they allegedly intended to sell in the Spanish capital.

The arrests helped the police thwart the gang’s plan to move 355 kilogrammes (782 pounds) of cannabis to other European countries from the Spanish municipality of Toledo, and find a property in the same area with a further two Romanian suspected gang members with around 240 cannabis plants.

The second phase started when cops intensified their monitoring of the group in Romania.

It started with the arrest of two men seen in the video which shows them being detained in Ilfov County before the cops show the drugs they found on them.

Police seized 38.5 kilogrammes (84 pounds) of heroin and 2,479 highly pure MDMA pills which the men intended to sell in the Bucharest black market, according to the authorities.

The detentions helped Romanian authorities learn the whereabouts of their primary target who they arrested on several charges of drug-trafficking in Romania and other European countries.

The group is also reported to have committed a large number of armed robberies in Romania as part of their operation.

They were considered extremely active and dangerous across several countries in the European Union.

It is unclear what the total number of arrests were from raids.

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