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NEWS: A report by the Prosecutor of Spain has revealed the existence of many mafias in the country.
The rogues’ gallery includes some of the biggest names and most terrifying outfits who chose to base themselves in Spain, making it the epicenter for transnational organized crime.
Andalucia has been targeted by some of the most dangerous mafias in the world, making Malaga and Marbella a center for sophisticated criminals.
Recent revelations from the 2024 Annual Report released by the Fiscal General del Estado (FGE), in which the FGE explains how the gangs have evolved, where they are active, and how violence has increased.
Want to know the criminals in Spain? Right this way…
READ MORE WATCH: The police forcefully eject one of Europe’s most wanted narco kingpins from a luxury villa on Spain’s southern coast
Mocro Maffia
The Mocro Maffia, originally from the Netherlands and of Moroccan descent, has expanded its bloody turf battles into southern Spain.
They have strengthened their grip on Marbella, and are blamed for the 2023 assassination of a Dutch-Moroccan man in Chiclana, Cadiz – a protected witness who had testified against one of the gang’s bosses in the Netherlands.
A Dutch mafia boss linked to the Mocro Maffia was arrested in Marbella for laundering at least €6 million for drug cartels in January last year.
READ MORE Watch: A dangerous wanted Serbian was arrested while shopping at a popular expat hotspot in Spain’s Costa Blanca
Albanian mafia
Albanian gangs quickly became one of Spain’s most powerful narco organizations.
The clans dominate indoor marijuana production in Granada. They have a sophisticated container smuggling operation through Valencia.
Malaga has even seen them working with Chinese gangs to carry out major cocaine and laundering activities.
A major bust on the Costa del Sol last year saw 30 people arrested – including an Albanian kingpin –in an operation that intercepted 3.2 tonnes of cocaine smuggled from Ecuador to the Costa del Sol.
In July this year, Albanian mafia boss Juxhin Drazhi, one of Europe’s most wanted narco kingpins, was arrested while trying to flee his luxury villa in Almuñecar, Granada.
READ MOREBoth Spain and Ecuador seek the extradition of an Albanian drug-lord who owned luxury Villas on Costa del Sol
Chinese networks
Chinese groups are active in drug trafficking as well as financial crime.
They run large counterfeiting operations and work with Albanians from Malaga and Marbella. As a result, they are key players both in the smuggling business and the money laundering side of things.
Serbian traffickers
Barcelona is the base of many Serbian groups that often work with Spanish gangsters.
The main activities of these criminals are the importation of cocaine from South America, and the financing of operations by marijuana cultivation.
A Serbian ringleader who coordinated shipments by using the encrypted SKY ECC network was sentenced to prison in June 2024.
A second Serbian drug smuggler on the run from 2016 was arrested near Barcelona in Lloret de Mar in July of this year, after a fake Slovakian ID revealed his identity at a routine police inspection.
READ MOREPolice seize 1,3 tonnes of cocaine from a Malaga bound ship when stowaway drug dealers attempted to unload it
Dutch and Lithuanian gangs
In Granada Dutch and Lithuanian groups are now encroaching on the cannabis business, replacing local family farmers and defending their plantations with guns.
Dutch networks also import MDMA and amphetamines, which feed the Spanish synthetic drug market.
READ MORE: ‘That’s how you deal with narco traffickers’: Spain’s police union stokes controversy by lauding US strike on drug boat that killed 11
The Costa del Sol: a criminal hub
Malaga and Marbella were singled out by prosecutors as the two main targets for international mafias.
The drug trade is linked to complex financial schemes, using luxury villas and shell firms as a way to launder millions in narco-profits.
Corruption has reached Malaga’s port, where the employees of a private scan firm are being investigated. They helped smugglers slip undetected containers through.
The report warns about the escalation of violence.
In Huelva and Cádiz, narcolanchas are now escorted by hooded men wielding Kalashnikovs.
In Jerez, automatic weapons have been found in nearly all major arrests.
The prosecution says that some gangs display assault rifles via social media. They turn drug deliveries into paramilitary displays.
READ MORE WATCH: Spanish police hunt down the last narco that was in speed boat which killed two officers
Where are British and Irish citizens?
Despite a detailed description of foreign mafias the report fails to mention British or Irish groups operating in Spain.
Their footprint is still evident in the numbers. The UK filed 30 extradition requests to Spain in 2024 – the third-highest of any country after only Peru and Russia.
Ireland sent Spain 45 judicial requests, asking it to collect evidence and follow procedural steps for Irish criminal cases.
In the report, you won’t find any of these well-known criminals.
No mention is made of the Turkish mafia despite it being responsible for several shootings and killings in this summer.
A trial currently taking place in Madrid suggests that the once powerful Swedish mafia has been completely dismantled. The Russian mafia is not mentioned at all.
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