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ARCHIVED - Irish crime boss faces 8 years in Spanish prison
Veteran drug lord John Gilligan was arrested in Alicante, Spain last year
Notorious Dublin drug trafficker John Gilligan faces eight years and four months in prison in Spain after being charged earlier this month with four separate crimes: smuggling drugs to Ireland, illegally exporting sleeping pills, unlawful possession of firearms and belonging to a known criminal gang.
Gilligan, along with several other gang members, was arrested in Alicante in October of 2020 and the crime boss spent several months in Spain’s notoriously tough Fontcalent prison before being released on bail. At the time of his arrest, police discovered that the criminal had been exporting large amounts of cannabis and pills hidden in toys and shoes.
More incriminating still, on searching his home in Los Balcones, Torrevieja, officers discovered a gun buried in his garden and at the time believed it to be a Colt Python, the same model used to execute Irish journalist Veronica Guerin in 1996.
In an unexpected twist, however, investigators have revealed that the firearm was actually a Colt Defender air pistol and was hidden along with several unused modified cartridges.
Guerin, who was actively investigating the gang’s involvement in hashish and marijuana trade in Ireland, was assassinated by a motorbike hitman while stopped at traffic lights on the outskirts of Dublin but Gilligan was acquitted of ordering her murder in 2002.
Gilligan and his accomplices were targeted as part of a huge international operation to stamp out the supply of drugs between Ireland and Spain, and official sources have reported that one of packages intended for trafficking “contained seven boxes of children’s toys, two flip-flops, and inside a towel, two packets containing marihuana buds weighing 685g and 700g respectively”. The gang used the same items to smuggle prescription drugs such as Limovane and Zoplicone.
The indictment specifies that eight others, including Gilligan’s partner Sharon and his son Darren, will face trial for the gun charges with proceedings expected to get underway in 2022.
Image: Policía Nacional
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