A 79-year-old Spaniard, suspected of leading a group of drug traffickers, has been arrested in Portugal, Spanish authorities announced on Tuesday.
According to the Spanish Civil Guard, the woman, who is well past retirement age, was the boss of a group that imported cocaine from the Dominican Republic to Portugal.
She was arrested in Vila Real, in northern Portugal, alongside two other Spaniards, aged 26 and 60, as part of an operation carried out by Spanish and Portuguese law enforcement.
"They were introducing cocaine into the [Iberian] peninsula via Portuguese ports using a legal company created to import coral from the Dominican Republic," the Civil Guard said in its statement.
"The 79-year-old woman was the head of the group as well as the manager and owner of the front company," detailed the Civil Guard.
Investigators arrested the three people after discovering cocaine concealed within the company and in their home in Portugal.
Wholesaler for other traffickers
This group acted as a wholesaler for other traffickers who then sold cocaine, particularly in southern Spain.
The Iberian Peninsula is one of the main entry points for cocaine in Europe for drug traffickers who use processes sometimes worthy of spy films.
A submarine that left Latin America and conveying 100 million euros of cocaine was intercepted in the Spanish region of Galicia [north-west], near Portugal, in November 2020.
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