Spanish police have just arrested several members of a gang from Mexico. In addition to drug trafficking between Central America and Spain, they are suspected of having kidnapped and murdered one of their own, whose mutilated corpse was found this summer in a forest in Catalonia.
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Fourteen people linked to the powerful Mexican Sinaloa Cartel have been arrested near Barcelona. An operation carried out as part of an investigation into the kidnapping and murder of a man whose body was found in August. The victim apparently worked with them.
The dismantled criminal network, based in Catalonia, is believed to be involved in the kidnapping and death of a man whose body was found in a wooded area. He had come from Italy for a meeting with some of the gang's leaders.
Press release from the Spanish police, November 17, 2024.
The network in question was “made up mainly of Mexicans”and was “linked to the Mexican Sinaloa Cartel” specifies the police.
The kidnapping took place between the end of May and June. The victim's relatives in Kosovo, who alerted the police, had received a ransom demand of 240,000 euros ($253,000). They had paid $32,000 in cryptocurrencies.
The body of the man, whose nationality was not specified, was discovered in August in a forest in an advanced state of decomposition, he showed signs of violence.
The 14 people arrested were allegedly involved in drug trafficking, money laundering, kidnapping and murder, according to the police statement.
They received packages in Catalonia from Mexico containing clothing laced with methamphetamine. Once in Spain, they extracted the drug in a laboratory. Synthetic drugs, weapons and money were found during the search.
The Sinaloa cartel, named after the northeastern Mexican state where it was founded, remains one of the largest criminal organizations in the world, despite the detention in the United States of two of its founders, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman and Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada.
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