Spain has extradited from Dubai the alleged head of the Georgian mafia, wanted for money laundering and other financial crimes in Spain, police said today.
Zakhar Knyazevich Kalashov was flown in on Saturday night after his capture by United Arab Emirates police last month, Spanish police said in a statement.
"Kalashov, a Russian, is a dangerous individual," the police statement said. Kalashov, known as "the invisible man" for his secrecy, fled Spain in 2005 after police blocked hundreds of bank accounts, seized dozens of luxury cars and confiscated villas in a crackdown on mafias from former Soviet republics.
Spanish newspapers have blamed a rise in violent crime on foreign criminals and mafias operating in the country. Spain's conservative opposition Popular Party has accused the government of losing control of border security.
Spanish police in March arrested a mafia ring of nearly 300 Romanians in one of their biggest operations against foreign criminals.