Spanish Cops Seize £22m In 'Drug Gang' Bust

A record 25m euros (£22m) in cash has been seized by Spanish police during a simultaneous raid in Spain and the US over a money-laundering scam.

"It is the largest single amount of cash seized in Europe from drug trafficking," police boss Jose Luis Olivera said at a news conference.

Seventeen people were held in and around Madrid and four in Miami, Florida, in an operation conducted with the FBI.

One of those held in the US, Alvaro Lopez Tardon, a Spaniard, is the "brains" behind the group, Mr Olivera said.

His brother, Artemio, was arrested in Madrid and it was at his home that the cash was found, under the living room floor.

"We have broken up the organisation and cut off their operations," said the officer in charge of the operation, Jose Luis Gudina.

The operation, codenamed Azalea after the name of the street where Artemio lived, has been ongoing for two years, during which police investigated "all the businesses and their proxies" used by the gang to move their money.

The group was involved in laundering money from drug trafficking from Colombia through a network of companies principally engaged in export-import, often involving luxury cars, and with accounts in tax havens.

Police also seized 21 properties in Madrid and four in Miami worth a total of 75m euros (£47m), as well as 60 cars, jewellery, watches, gold, and five guns.

A police statement described it as the "biggest network in Europe involved in laundering money from drug trafficking".

All those held are accused of money laundering and drug trafficking.

Spain's closeness to north Africa, a key source of marijuana, and its close ties with its former colonies in Latin America, a major cocaine-producing region, have made it a major gateway into Europe for drug traffickers.