Earlier this month Manuel Charlín (85 years) and his 57-year-old son Melchor have been arrested in connection with a large-scale investigation after the interception of a batch of cocaine.
The arrest of the notorious ancient drug lord shows that the classic drug trade in the north of Spain is by no means exterminated. He would be the leader of the most violent northern Spanish crime organization of all time.
A total of 28 people have been detained in this action, including 14 men from the Charlín organization in Galicia, a criminal association that has been active in the region for decades, comparable with the Italian clans in this crime sector.
Manuel Charlín has now been arrested for the fifth time in his long career as a drug dealer. He, like some other older members of the clan, was allowed to await his trial in freedom after an interrogation.
Drug-handling organizations have always benefited from parties that can take drugs on the mainland, for example the Galicia route has been widely used by British and Irish criminal groups, which in turn have historical ties with the originally (partly) Celtic history of this part of Spain.