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Six people, including convicted drug trafficker John Gilligan, were arrested yesterday by Spanish police in an international operation to disrupt the sale and supply of drugs in Ireland and the United Kingdom.
The Spanish police arrested John Gilligan yesterday at a local in Alicante and proceeded to search the building.
A Colt Python revolver, buried in the garden, was discovered in the search.
Four drug packages containing more than 15,000 pills and four kilos of cannabis buds were seized. To this are added 11,000 pills and four kilos of cannabis buds already seized after a search in four other locations.
Spanish police say the discovered weapon is now under investigation and a ballistic analysis is underway on a possible connection to the 1996 murder of Irish journalist Veronica Guerin.
Police in Spain believe the weapon is the same make and model that was used in the shooting 24 years ago.
An Garda Síochána and the UK’s National Crime Agency participated in the international operation, which began last year after the discovery of an international gang operating in the Torrevieja and Orihuela Costa regions.
Gardaí said they do not comment on ongoing investigations or operations carried out by other police forces.
Last year, Mr. Gilligan was detained at Belfast International Airport with € 22,280 in cash as he was about to board a flight to Alicante.
Prosecutors argued that he intended to purchase a prescription drug in Spain for distribution on the drug market in Ireland.
His defense said it was a sensitive case.
A magistrate dismissed the case.
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