Veteran crime boss John Gilligan arrested in Spain after discovery of a weapon and on suspicion of running drug trafficking networks

VETERAN crime boss John Gilligan has been arrested in Spain on suspicion of operating separate cannabis and prescription drug smuggling networks.

Spanish police also believe that the elderly gangster was using drug proceeds to launder cash through various businesses in Alicante.

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A source said his arrest came after the discovery of a weapon in the garden of a business premises near Alicante, but added that Gilligan was also suspected of shipping prescription drugs from Spain to Ireland and the United Kingdom.

It is now understood that ballistics experts are analyzing the weapon.

The career criminal’s son, Darren, and another Irishman are believed to be assisting the Spanish police with their investigation into drug trafficking.

Spanish sources claim that Gilligan, 68, was at the center of an operation that shipped packages of cannabis resin through Dublin airport via unsuspecting couriers.

DRUG DISCOVERY

The packages, between 5 and 10 kilos, were collected by traveling gangs based in West Dublin to sell on the streets.

It’s a far cry from the large amounts of hash that Factory John brought in during its heyday of the 1990s, which ultimately ended with a 28-year sentence, cut to 20 years on appeal.

The Spanish cops entered as UK police are investigating Gilligan’s involvement in a prescription pill trade there.

They believe that he was organizing for the drugs to be legitimately bought in Spain and brought to Britain on mules.

The PSNI is understood to have tipped off his Spanish colleagues about Gilligan following his appearance in court in Belfast on money laundering charges in 2018.

Gilligan had been arrested while traveling through the city’s airport with € 20,000 in cash after arriving from Dublin in what authorities suspect was an attempt to avoid Gardai scrutiny.

His trial heard PSNI claim that it had raised the money to buy prescription drugs in Spain to sell on the streets here.

Police had found a torn part of a package of the prescription sleeping medicine Zopiclone hidden in a black journal he kept.

Insomnia pills are available on the mainland for as little as € 8 for a pack of 28 and are sold individually for up to € 2.

The drug cannot be detected by drug dogs and carries a much lower penalty than cocaine or heroin for those found in possession of large quantities.

‘UP TO HIS OLD TRICKS’

The case against Gilligan was dismissed by a magistrate and since then she has moved between Spain, where she has a house in Alicante, and here.

Meanwhile, the Irish Sun may also reveal that the bully is not receiving welfare in Ireland.

The authorities consider him bankrupt since last year CAB confiscated his last properties, with the sale of a house in Lucan for € 380,000.

A former investigator who attacked the neighborhood over the years told us: “I am not at all surprised that Gilligan was involved in another criminal conspiracy.

“He was only out of jail for three years when he got caught in 1997 and now it looks like he’s doing his old tricks. He just can’t help it, he loves to commit crimes.

“If you don’t receive welfare, how can you finance your lifestyle? If you’ve been flying back and forth to Ireland from Spain, you can be sure that you won’t isolate yourself. “

His ongoing ties to younger mobsters mean Gilligan remains at risk with every home visit.

Last week, police questioned a 26-year-old man about a firearms attack at the home of Gilligan’s innocent sister, Lorraine, in Clondalkin, west of Dublin.

The incident related to a dispute involving one of his young associates.

Gilligan narrowly survived in 2014 when a murderer broke into his brother’s home and shot him four times during a christening.