MADRID — Police in Spain arrested 290 groups linked to organised crime last year.

A total of 3,925 people were detained during 2005 – a 15 percnet rise compared with the year before, according to figures from the interior ministry.

The majority of these groups were involved in drug trafficking, money laundering, forgery and armed robbery.

The police also launched 768 operations against drugs trafficking.

One of the biggest operations against organised crime was White Whale, in which police arrested 56 people suspected of taking part in a massive money laundering scam.

They were said to have used money from a range of illegal activities in other countries to buy properties on the Costa del Sol.

Operation Red Marble broke up a money laundering ring created by Eastern European gangsters who made their money from extortion, contract killings and bribery.

Spain has several teams which concentrate on organised crime.

There is the national police’s Greco unit which works on the Costa del Sol, the eastern coast and Galicia.

There is also the Civil Guard organised crime unit based in Alicante and Malaga. 

[Copyright EFE with Expatica]

Subject: Spanish news