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Date Published: 08/07/2024

Brits arrested as dangerous trafficking ring busted in San Pedro del Pinatar

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Three British men have been linked to the supposed criminal organisation, one of whom faces extradition from Spain to the UK on drugs charges

Brits arrested as dangerous trafficking ring busted in San Pedro del Pinatar

A fugitive on the run. A deal gone wrong in an underground car park. Hand-to-hand wrestling with police. It was like something from a Hollywood action movie, or the latest Guy Ritchie Brit gangster flick.

This was the dramatic dismantling of a British-led international arms trafficking ring in San Pedro del Pinatar (Murcia), with 37-year-old Liverpudlian Anthony Patrick Finnigan being arrested on suspicion of being the head of the criminal gang.

Since 2020, Finnigan had been on the run from the law in the UK, where he was wanted after 26 bags of amphetamine weighing 56 kilos and 88 cannabis plants were found at his home.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) had an international arrest warrant out for him to “locate and arrest with a view to extradition”, warning that he had links to very dangerous groups who trafficked guns to finance the purchase of cocaine.

These guns were to be distributed to criminal groups in the Levante area of Spain, mainly in the Region of Murcia.

A Murcia police unit specialising in drugs and organised crime tracked Finnigan down to a villa in San Pedro in mid-June, 2024. He was accompanied by two men, Hasan Topal and Ediz Can, both British nationals of Turkish origin, as well as a Moroccan national, Ahmed M., a resident of La Aljorra, Cartagena.

Knowing something was up, Spanish police asked the NCA for the identity of the other British nationals, to find out who they were dealing with.

The response that came back was: “Considered to be highly dangerous and may be carrying firearms.”

Investigators knew that something serious was brewing, and so on June 20 a dozen agents set up an intensive surveillance programme to watch them.

On the morning of June 20, Ahmed contacted a client who wanted to buy the 35 pistols that had been brought to Finnigan’s house from England in a suitcase. The Moroccan met the buyer in an underground garage in a housing estate in Los Alcázares.

This place was the point of guarantee of payment for the weapons and this is where Finnigan and Topal would meet the client. Meanwhile, Ahmed, as the buyers’ contact, remained with Can at the house in San Pedro, guarding the suitcase with the 35 guns, vacuum-wrapped in plastic and arranged in pairs, until payment was confirmed and the guns were delivered.

But the meeting in the Los Alcázares underground didn’t go according to plan. Once Finnigan and Topal’s car entered the garage, five policemen jumped on them. They tried to escape by lunging at the officers, but Finnigan, the main target of the investigation, went down first.

Topal, meanwhile, struggled with an officer, pulled a gun from his belt and pointed it at the policeman. The officer held onto his hand to keep him and the other officers out of the line of fire. Topal got off two shots, but neither hit their mark.

Finally, the officers managed to disarm the suspect and shouted at him: “Get on the ground or I’ll shoot you!”

Topal tried to retrieve the gun but the officer fired two warning shots into the roof. At this, Topal surrendered and was finally arrested.

While all this was happening in Los Alcázares, the other unit of the police operation was watching the villa in San Pedro del Pinatar. When their colleagues informed them of what had happened in the garage of the urbanisation, they went on high alert.

Can and Ahmed were waiting for news of payment to hand over the weapons. It was several minutes past 2pm and seeing that too much time had passed since their companions had left, they decided to take to their heels and left the house in a car.

Police officers stationed in the vicinity stopped the car, but the two men made a run for it on foot. Officer gave chase, and when the suspects were cornered they lashed out violently at the police, but were eventually arrested.

During the search of the house, the agents discovered that they had used petrol to wipe down the 35 pistols found inside the suitcase, along with more than 700 rounds of ammunition and notes of prices and orders, all of which clean of fingerprints.

All four men were imprisoned, and British authorities have requested that Finnigan be extradited. However, for the moment he will remain in Spain where he also faces charges – along with the others – for the crimes of belonging to a criminal organisation, arms trafficking and attacking police officers, plus a fourth charge of attempted murder for Topal.

Neil Keeping, NCA Regional Manager for Spain, said, “The NCA’s international network played a key role in support of the Spanish National Police operation that saw four men arrested and dangerous weapons seized.

“These firearms are likely to have been destined for the UK criminal market, so taking them out of circulation marks a huge success.

“Suppressing the availability of illegal firearms in the UK, and preventing their use or acquisition by criminals, is a top priority for the NCA and its law enforcement partners.”

Image: NCA

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