Spanish police said today they busted a network of Moroccan and Chinese nationals who laundered hundreds of thousands of euros a week in drug money.
Officers arrested two Chinese nationals, one suspect from Hong Kong and three Moroccans in raids at locations including a major Chinese trading estate near Madrid, a police statement said.
The network sold hashish that was smuggled from Morocco to Spain, distributing it to Britain, France and other countries, and laundered the money via wholesale purchases of clothes and jewellery.
The police said they seized 21 million items of clothing worth more than USD 131 million as well as luxury cars and jewels and watches worth four million euros.
After catching drug-traffickers in December with 11 tonnes of hashish, police traced the gang’s financial activities and discovered it was laundering 500,000 euros of drug money a week.
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Spanish police press release link (in Spanish): Desmantelado un entramado de blanqueo de capitales procedentes del narcotráfico que “lavaba” más de 500.000€ semanales (Translated in English: click here)