“Don Carlos” Veteran Cocaine King Arrested Again

The Spanish National Police have arrested one of Spain´s top drugs kingpins who had been involved in smuggling cocaine from Colombia for the last 30 years.

Florentino Fernández, also known as Don Carlos, was captured by police officers as he was having a coffee in a Marbella bar.

The arrest was the culmination of an 18-month police operation that was tracking a shipment of 60kg of cocaine from Colombia hidden in boxes of flowers.

Officers swooped on a suspected lorry as it was leaving an industrial estate on the outskirts of Seville where the drugs were seized and two people arrested.

The delivery lorry was en route to Malaga for distribution throughout Europe.

According to the police statement, Don Carlos, was a who was described as “a powerful Spanish drug trafficker”, had smuggled the drugs from Colombia.

On his arrest, police officers raided his house where they seized €200,000 in cash and a revolver.

In addition, the Spanish authorities have applied to the court to freeze his assets including property valued at €350,000 as those of his associates and bank accounts.

Don Carlos, who is from the northern autonomous community of Asturias has been on the police´s radar since 1993, when his involvement with high-ranking members of the Medellin and Cali cartels became known.

He is believed to have lived for several years in Colombia and his Madrid address belonged to  Gilberto Orejuela, one of the founders of the Cali cartel.

He was arrested in 1998 he was sentenced to 24 years in prison for the kidnapping of two women over unpaid debts from a rival gang.

According to the police press release he returned to criminal activity as soon as he was released from prison.

He is presently in police custody awaiting a court date.