OVER 100 people – including a councillor – have been arrested in a round-up against Chinese mafia operations across the country.
José Borrás (PSOE), councillor for police and public safety in Fuenlabrada (Madrid) was taken into custody at around 10.00hrs today.
Another man who is thought to be the pornography actor Nacho Vidal is among the suspects, although his identity has not been confirmed.
Ringleader Gao Ping is one of the mostly Chinese detainees, police sources say.
They busted a warehouse in Fuenlabrada on the Cobo Calleja industrial estate after being tipped off about money-laundering, extortion and fraud offences relating to international sales of goods.
The offenders may also have been involved in human trafficking for prostitution purposes.
Some of the arrests have been made on the Costa del Sol and in Barcelona, as well as in the Basque Country and Castilla y León.
It is thought that the mafia operations – one of the largest-ever in Spain's history – involved the sale of typical 'Chinese bazaar-type' goods as front companies.
Restaurants and karaoke bars are among the 120 premises raided. |