The Spanish police have arrested 14 alleged members of the Sinaloa Cartel in an operation carried out in Barcelona, Spain. Among those arrested is the leader of the cartel's cell in Spain and the person responsible for the kidnapping and murder of a victim whose body was found in a forest in Tarragona in August.
Authorities accuse the detainees of international drug trafficking, money laundering, kidnapping, and murder. During searches carried out at five homes and a restaurant in different locations in Catalonia, a methamphetamine extraction laboratory was found, along with ecstasy, marijuana, firearms, technological equipment, and money.
The investigation began in late June after receiving information about a kidnapping in Barcelona by the Sinaloa Cartel. Subsequently, on August 5, the body of a man was discovered in a forest. The victim, a 46-year-old Italian and alleged member of the gang, was determined to have been kidnapped between May 31 and June 2 by the detainees.
The kidnappers demanded a ransom of 240,000 euros from the victim's family in Kosovo and received a payment of 32,000 dollars in cryptocurrency. Despite the payment, the family received no further information about the victim, and the kidnappers continued to demand more money.
Investigators managed to identify individuals related to the kidnapping and found the vehicle in which the victim traveled from Italy to Barcelona in a municipal deposit in the city. Additionally, it was determined that the kidnappers used the car to transport the man's body to the location where it was found in a forest in Tarragona. The detainees are aged between 30 and 70 years.
