THE SCALE of the Russian Mafia’s activity in Europe was dramatically exposed yesterday when police forces in six EU countries arrested scores of suspects allegedly involved in drug smuggling, money laundering, arms-dealing and contract killing.
Hundreds of police in Spain, France, Italy, Austria, Switzerland and Germany swooped on dozens of sites, arresting 69 people, most of them Russians and ethnic Georgians. The biggest group was apprehended in Spain, where 24 suspects were detained in the cities of Barcelona and Bilbao, and the province of Valencia. The head of the gang was named as Kakhaber Shushanasvili, a known crime boss in Georgia. He was held in Barcelona.
“These people were prepared to kill if necessary and accepted tasks of that nature,” an anonymous Spanish police source told El Pais newspaper.
The investigation started in April 2009, requiring tight police and legal co-ordination across half a dozen European countries. It targeted “people of an eastern European origin, notably Georgian and Russian citizens”, according to a member of the Swiss public prosecutor’s office. Most of those arrested were thought to be foot soldiers in an extensive network stretching from Turkey across central Europe to Ireland and Britain, but headquartered in Spain.
“This was a group that operated in various countries,” the El Pais police source said, adding that the Mafia was involved in money-laundering operations in Spain’s corruption-riddled property sector. The cash was laundered through small businesses set up in Spain.
Spanish police have carried out a series of major operations against the Russian Mafia in the past four years. Among those who have been detained is Zakhar Kalashov, accused of being a senior Mafia boss. Kalashov is on bail, awaiting sentence after a money-laundering trial that was carried out under tight security and ended in December.
Spanish investigators complain that the courts have been too ready to grant bail to the numerous alleged Russian Mafia members they have detained. “We had gained a lot of prestige in Europe for our operations against the Russian Mafia and these decisions have thrown part of that work into the dustbin,” the El Pais source complained.
The raids are the latest stage of an ongoing investigation into the Russian Mafia in Spain, which began in 2005 with the arrest of 28 suspects. – ( Guardianservice)