Spain arrests one of Europe’s biggest money launderers

Police have arrested “one of Europe’s biggest money launderers” after a raid in southern Spain, saying the British-Irish suspect is believed to have shifted more than 200 million euros ($200 million) in illicit cash.

He was detained Monday “as a result of an international law enforcement operation led by the Spanish Guardia Civil. Two of his associates were also arrested in Spain, and one in the United Kingdom”, Europol said in a statement.

Europol did not name the suspect, but a source close to the investigation and Irish newspapers said he was John Francis Morrissey, 62, a known associate of the notorious Kinahan organised crime group.

Morrissey “and his associates were in charge of collecting large amounts of cash from criminal organisations which they would then ‘deliver’ to other criminal organisations in other countries,” Europol said.