The large influx of tourists, the number of pleasure boats, and the proximity to the main “maritime highways” of the Western Mediterranean make Ibiza an ideal location for introducing large consignments of drugs. That is why the Albanian mafia that collaborated with Stefan Milojevic’s gang—dismantled in the Manso-Enroque Bal operation—had turned the Pitiüses into a European gateway for drug trafficking.
Cocaine arrived on merchant ships, from which bales equipped with floats and beacons were dropped for local traffickers to pick up on the high seas. Hashish reached the island aboard powerful inflatable boats coming directly from North Africa. The drugs remained in warehouses in Ibiza for just 48 hours before being transferred—hidden among legal merchandise—into trucks that travelled by ferry to Valencia. From there, traffickers distributed the shipments throughout Spain and the rest of Europe. In one intercepted conversation, Milojevic boasted of having transported 300 kilos of hashish to Russia.
These are some of the findings of the Manso-Enroque Bal operation, carried out over the last three months by the Guardia Civil and the National Police in Mallorca, following two years of investigation. The operation unfolded in six phases and began last August with the arrest in Mallorca of the gang’s alleged leaders: Stefan Milojevic, lawyer Gonzalo Márquez, and the former head of Narcotics Group II, Faustino Nogales, accused of providing them with information.
For the full article, please visit Diario de Ibiza website here.