Abdelkader Benali Mohamedi, also known as ‘El Laca’, is a well-known drug trafficker who sent cocaine to Europe in Costa Rican pineapples.
Benali, arrested last week in Andalusia, is designated by the National Police of Spain as the brain of a powerful family organization for drug trafficking and with a broad power in North Africa.
The Moroccan national, 73, would have constituted a drug trafficking network that reached Costa Rica and Ecuador, with the clear objective of introducing cocaine into European territory.
An ambitious plan, since he began decades ago as a trafficker of hashish (a product obtained from cannabis) between Spain and Morocco.
According to the investigation made by the police, the Benali group introduced 30 kilos of cocaine hidden in metal cylinders, which – in turn – were introduced into pineapples imported from Costa Rica to the Spanish port of Algeciras (Andalusia).
Mohamed Benali, his only son, is the alleged contact of the organization in Latin America. Here he coordinated drug shipments and managed millionaire money transfers with ganngs in Mexico and Colombia. In Spain, he had the support of Brahim Mohamed. One of his two sons-in-law, who served as a local police officer in Malaga and was fired for criminal ties.
To achieve their mission, the suspects contacted two Spanish businessmen who were importing fruits from Costa Rica and Ecuador.