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Spanish Crack Down on Russian Mafia
The Spanish Police began a large-scale operation on Friday against organized crime run by Russian immigrants. The operation began with an order issued by Judge Baltasar Garzon, who is known for his efforts to try former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet. The judge issued an order for the arrest of 25 people suspected of money laundering. Between 200 and 300 police took part in the operation, conducting searches in Malaga, along the Spanish southern coast, in Barcelona, Madrid, Alicante and the Balearic Islands. Foreign special services are reported to have aided the Spanish police.
Emigrants from Russia and other countries of the former USSR set up criminal societies in Spain at the beginning of the 1990s. Those groups have been implicated in contract murders and corruption. The immediate cause for the operation was the discovery of 500 bank accounts being used by criminal who are called the “Russian mafia” in the foreign press.
Spain has been trying for many years to shed the criminal image it has received due to the fondness of international criminal organizations for its southern shores and islands.
www.kommersant.com
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