Four people detained on Friday following a Guardia Civil operation against the sale of drugs in Magalluf have been ordered to remain in custody. One of the four is a British woman. They were brought before the duty judge in Palma on Sunday around midday and exercised their rights not to testify.
The evidence against them appears irrefutable: almost five kilos of cocaine were seized during raids and in possession along with four kilos of marijuana shoots, a further four kilos of cutting substance and a great quantity of cash. The chief anti-drugs prosecutor in the Balearics, Julio Cano, asked for the four to be detained, the judge finally deciding not to accept defence pleas to stand bail and hand in passports.
Yesterday, there were two further arrests, both Britons.
The operation, which had taken some two months in the planning, came to a head on Friday when a Spanish man was arrested in possession of two kilos of cocaine. He had arrived in Magalluf from Palma by taxi. The drugs were to be sold with the assistance of "tiqueteros" (PRs) in bars and clubs in Punta Ballena. A flat in Palma's calle Bernat Amer was apparently being used as a storage facility for the drugs, which were being shipped into Majorca on private yachts.
This latest operation, dubbed "Dajú", was the sixth successful action by the Guardia Civil and National Police against drugs in the past six weeks. The latest detentions bring to 116 the number of people held in custody. The first of these operations was on 16 June. A joint Guardia-National Police action, it broke up a gang led by Dominicans that was operating in Palma, Marratxi and Can Picafort. There were 25 arrests. The largest number of arrests as a result of a single operation came on 9 July. "Iron Belt" netted 42 people in all who were involved in cocaine trafficking. Those detained were with two clans based in Palma's notorious Son Banya: "La Eva" and "Los Benabad".