ARCHIVED - Seven family members arrested on drug trafficking charges in Villajoyosa
Concerned neighbours alerted police in the Marina Baixa to the "clan's" alleged illegal activities.
Seven members of the same family - five men and two women - have been arrested in Villajoyosa and charged with drug trafficking, money laundering and being part of a criminal organisation.
The "clan" is accused of selling cocaine, hashish and marijuana from two properties in the same neighbourhood, attracting a "continuous flow of buyers", and causing "alarm" amongst residents who alerted the Guardia Civil.
Operation 'Volant' was set up shortly after the first complaint was made in April, when a resident reported "regular movement of people looking to buy drugs".
Officers carried out numerous discreet surveillance operations in the surrounding area, and observed drug users "frequently entering and leaving the house", even confiscating the drugs as a 'client' left the property on one occasion,
But it soon became apparent there a second house being used by the same family, and the Guardia Civil applied for a warrant to search them both this week, seizing almost 400 grams of cocaine, 1.2 kilos of hashish and 50 grams of marijuana, together with one car, two motorbikes, 11 mobile phones, three televisions and 17 watches.
Also confiscated was €480 in cash, while two bank accounts containing a combined €17,000 were frozen.
The seven Spanish family members - five men aged 22 to 62-years-old and two women aged 30 and 32 - have all been charged with drug trafficking, money laundering and belonging to an organised criminal group, with two of the men remanded into customdy and the other five released pending trial.
IMAGE: Guardia Civil