Spanish Authorities Seek Extradition of Drug Kingpin from Dubai in Major Cocaine Ring Case

The investigating court of the National Court summoned on Tuesday Alejandro Salgado Vega, alias "El Tigre," a powerful drug lord leading the network for which the chief inspector of the National Police’s UDEF, Óscar Sánchez Gil, currently in pre-trial detention, worked. According to the latest information, El Tigre has already fled Dubai where he had been hiding for years and is now in Russia according to some, or in Thailand according to others, reports El Independiente.

Salgado was arrested in December 2022 in Dubai for transporting 2,000 kg of cocaine through the port of Algeciras. Spanish authorities consider him the "most internationally active Spanish trafficker in cocaine trafficking." From his prison in Dubai, the criminal continued to conduct his activities. Last October, Spanish police intercepted 13 tons of cocaine at the port of Valencia and arrested about thirty members of his network.

Investigators discovered conversations between him and those who were supposed to help him bring the drugs into Spain. In light of these elements, the judge in charge of the case decided last April to summon Salgado "El Tigre" as a witness to the hearing on Tuesday, May 13. Unsurprisingly, the criminal did not show up. According to the Colombian media El Tiempo, Salgado had been seen in Thailand a few days ago with a Colombian companion and two models.

According to sources, the Spanish drug trafficker would be working with the DEA, the American anti-drug agency, to provide the names of active drug lords from Dubai, in exchange for "total immunity." Recently, Dubai authorities arrested Juan Ángel Cervera Muñoz, alias "Juan the financier," one of the gang leaders who managed to flee Madrid before his arrest. Spain has requested his extradition.