Three Hungarian criminals on Europol’s Most Wanted list have been detained by the Hungarian and Spanish police, the Hungarian police reported on its website.
The three men, referred to as István Sándor V., Roland V., and Tibor Erik K and wanted for drug-related crimes, were arrested in Calp on July 19, the website said.
The suspects are believed to have operated a professional, automated cannabis plantation and processing facility in south-eastern Hungary in 2020 and 2021, which the Hungarian police wound up in May 2021. At the time, the authorities seized 165 kilogrammes of marijuana and assets worth over a combined HUF 380 million (EUR 983,700). The authorities identified all seven members of the gang, and arrested two of them in Hungary soon after.
The other five members were included on the European Most Wanted list of 54 criminals. István Sándor V. and the other two suspects fled to Spain and started smuggling drugs into Hungary. According to the police investigation so far, they smuggled at least 100 kilogrammes of marijuana and 10 kilogrammes of cocaine over the course of 10 trips to Hungary. Last November, when one of their accomplices entered Hungary from Slovenia, the police seized 16 kilogrammes of marijuana and a kilogramme of cocaine, the website said.
According to the website, the last two members of the gang, Tamás Bagaméri and András Csikós, are still at large.