Video: Two leaders of Dutch-Belgian drug gang arrested in Spain
The Spanish police arrested two alleged leaders of a Dutch-Belgian drug gang accused of importing nearly 4,000 kilograms of cocaine through ports in the Netherlands and Belgium. The Dutch and Belgian police arrested another seven suspects, Guardia Civil said. The authorities seized over 2,800 kilograms of cocaine during the arrests and subsequent raids.
The arrests were made in a joint investigation of the Spanish, Dutch, and Belgian authorities launched in 2020 following the interception of various batches of cocaine. The first, weighing 556 kg, was seized in Brazil on 13 May 2020, followed by two shipments of 586 kg and 409 kg in the port of Rotterdam on 4 October 2020 and 2,300 kg in the port of Antwerp on 26 January 2026. The recipients of the drugs were a Belgian and two Dutch companies.
Detenidos en España dos capos del tráfico internacional de cocaína
— Guardia Civil (@guardiacivil) September 3, 2022
En Holanda y Bélgica se han practicado otros 8 registros y se ha detenido a otras 7 personashttps://t.co/v93JEMEQAJ pic.twitter.com/GkLjI0GHct
“The organization made up of Belgian and Dutch citizens acquired the drug in Brazil and later transported it to ports in Belgium and the Netherlands by concealing it in the legal cargo of large-ton merchandise containers,” Guardia Civil said.
The two alleged ring leaders were arrested in luxury homes in Marbella, Spain. “Once the two leaders were located in Spain, the other members of the organization were identified in Belgium and the Netherlands,” Guardia Civil said. The Dutch and Belgian police arrested another seven suspects.
The authorities in the three countries also seized over 2.8 tons of cocaine, three expensive vehicles, numerous cellphones, other data carriers, and “abundant” documentation, the Spanis authorities said.