Officers from the Mossos d'Esquadra and the National Police have today arrested 23 people in a joint operation against the Georgian mafia, one of the oldest and deepest entrenched mafia organisations in Spain.
The operation, led by the State Anti-Corruption Prosecutor in Terrassa (Barcelona), saw 23 arrests made and searches carried out in 13 properties in Barcelona, L'Hospitalet de Llobregat (Barcelona), Mataró (Barcelona), Gavà (Barcelona), Cornellà de Llobregat (Barcelona) and Madrid.
In total, the various arms of this operation have now led to the arrest of over 40 people, in different satellite cells of the organisation, who have committed a continuous string of violent burglaries across Catalonia.
Today's operation is directly linked to a shooting on January 4th 2016 in Terrassa, in which two alleged members of the network were murdered in an apparent settling of scores, after the mafia group had split into a number of rival factions.
After almost two years of investigation, police officers today arrested 23 alleged members of the mafia network, all of whom are accused of organised crime and money laundering.
With today's sting, the security forces claim to have taken down the leaders of the gang - those responsible for moving the money and property stolen in the countless burglaries to higher levels of the mafia organisation outside of Spain.
Officers believe that as many as 60 people could ultimately be involved in the crimes currently under investigation and the Georgian attaché to Spain has collaborated with the investigation.
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