Police arrest 69 in European crackdown on Russian mafia

AFP - At least 69 people have been arrested in a crackdown on the Russian mafia in several European countries, a Spanish police source said Monday.
 

Twenty-four people were detained in Spain in the operation, which was "ongoing", the source said.

At least 45 others were arrested in "different European countries".

Spanish media said arrests took place in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France and Italy.

The suspected are linked to the Russian mafia and are accused of drug trafficking and money-laundering, the Spanish police source said.

In Spain, the arrests took place in the cities of Madrid, Valencia, Barcelona and Bilbao, the newspaper El Mundo said on its website.

It said the operation was coordinated at a European level by Spain's anti-corruption prosecutors.