Spanish police on Sunday said they had arrested the leading figure in heroin smuggling to the country, smashing the organization he led for years.

Referred to by investigators as the "Spanish Pablo Escobar of heroin," the ringleader had his base in the central city of Toledo and made "large imports" from the Netherlands. He would then distribute it to parts of central and western Spain, according to the police.

Officers raided eight properties in the cities of Madrid, Toledo and Caceres and arrested nine other people — seven men and three women.

The operation was one of the largest seizures in recent years, with police confiscating some 55 kilograms (over 120 pounds) of heroin.

The main suspect was said to be closely linked to a global drug ring directed by a Turkish citizen from Istanbul, known as "The Paralytic."

Drugs diluted at rural locations

Investigations leading to the arrests began last March, when the police detected that the man had made contact with known heroin traffickers on the outskirts of Madrid. Months later, the agents discovered that this criminal network had most of its infrastructure in Toledo.

The group had a number of farms and houses in various locations in the region, mainly in rural areas, where they used to hide the drug shipments. They would adulterate the product before distributing them to various clans and criminal groups.

Pablo Escobar, dubbed the "King of Cocaine," was the founder and head of Colombia's Medellin Cartel and died in a shootout in 1993.

rc/fb (EFE, AP)