Twenty Russian citizens arrested in Spain today are accused of leading the Tambovskaya-Malyshevskaya Russian mafia gang, and face charges ranging from ordering assassinations, and drugs, arms and influence trafficking.
The arrests were made at a number of addresses in Mallorca, Málaga, Alicante and Madrid as part of a nationwide operation ordered by High Court investigating judge, Baltasar Garzón, involving around 400 National Police and Guardia Civil officers.
Among the detained is the alleged boss of the mafia operation, 'Petrov', who was arrested at a luxury mansion in Calviá on Mallorca.
He and the rest of the gang are accused of using Spain to launder millions of euros annually obtained from criminal activities elsewhere before chanelling it to secret bank accounts in Panama and Switzerland. Police forces from Germany, Switzerland and the USA have been collaborating in the investigation that led to today's arrests, which started back in 2006.