Helicopter in Alcalá was part of French drug running operation

ALCALÁ DE LOS GAZULES (Source & photo: EuropaSur) Local residents thought something 'strange' was going on, especially at night. They could hear what turned out to be a helicopter that was kept under a blue tarpaulin in an apparently abadoned farm building near the road to San José del Valle. It is just part of a massive drug running operation based in France, and this chopper is what they used to bring hashish  and cocaine over from Morocco. The pilots would earn €1000 per kilo of the stuff and would sometimes get up to half a million for a night's work. The Policía Nacional broke down the door to the building last Tuesday as part ofan operation against the drug ring that had bases throughout Andalucía, in Alcalá, Puebla del Río, Coria, Marbella and Fuengirola.

 

It took two years of investigation to catch the gang. In the end, a court order, in support of another issued by French authorities, had the police's Grupo de Respuesta Especial Contra el Crimen Organizado (GRECO, Rapid Response Group Against Organized Crime) battering down the door to the building.

Sources close to the investigation say that the high earning capabilities has been a surprise in the case. There was a fleet of helicopters, some stolen and others rented, such as this one, that carried out up to two trips to Morocco per night. Between 300 and 500 kilos were quickly unloaded onto 4x4s that sped up to France by road.

The gang was caught in France thanks to a particular haul of cocaine, although details of it are being kept secret. While there are five people under arrest there, inluding the pilot of the helicopter, up to thirty further arrests are expected in the case.