JAKARTA - Spanish police said on Thursday they had arrested the head of one of Europe's largest money laundering networks, having ties to a drug gang in Costa del Sol, using high-end capital sales to restaurants under cover.
A police spokesman told Reuters on a phone call that John Francis Morrissey, a well-known gang leader and head of Spanish operations, was arrested on Monday.
In total, three people were arrested in Spain and one in England, police said in a statement.
The network was dismantled during an international Europol joint operation known as "Whitewall", they said.
He explained that the criminal network washed more than 200 million euros in less than one and a half years, or up to 350,000 euros per day, the authorities explained.
The money laundering network uses the so-called "hawala" traditional money transfer system, widely used in Pakistan and the Middle East, which allows exchanges of money between traders by holding hands, a piece of paper or trust.
Police said Morrissey had ties to Kinahan Clan Ireland, a gang of drug smugglers operating in Costa del Sol Spain, and "dedicated to raise large sums of money from criminal organizations operating in our country".
He was arrested during an operation backed by operations from Britain's National Crime Agency, Irish Guard police, American Narcotics Enforcement Administration, Dutch police and Europol's Financial and Economic Crimes unit.
Police said they began tracking the group after confiscating cocaine and cash hidden in a car in Malaga last year.
He added that the network trades premium brands, one of which is the luxurylum brand promoted in restaurants and top nightclubs in southern Spain. However, Spanish tax agents say the trade "can absolutely not support" the network's lifestyle, police said.
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