THE head of the Spanish drugs squad that took down John Gilligan claims the notorious gang boss “likes what he does”.
The Dublin gangster’s Spanish gaff was raided in December as he slept, with cops uncovering a massive drugs lab.
Gilligan was handed a 22-month suspended prison sentence in September 2023 after he admitted to running a cannabis and sleeping pill smuggling ring between Spain and Ireland.
He also copped to the illegal possession of a gun in Costa Blanca in October 2020.
It was initially feared to be the weapon used to kill Veronica Guerin, before tests ruled this out.
And the senior Spanish officer said his experience of the veteran criminal, 72, is that he revels in his links with the underworld and likes being on the wrong side of the law.
Speaking on condition of anonymity because of his dangerous work tackling some of the worst criminal offenders, he said: “I’ve read claims he was reoffending because he was down on his luck and needed to make some quick money.
“But I believe he likes what he does, he boasts about his criminal past and his links to the world of crime.
“He likes that lifestyle and I don’t think he’s ever going to stop.
“If he ends up being released on bail, I think he’ll go back to what he’s been doing.
“His age and health issues could go in his favour to win his conditional release.
“And whatever he does, he knows that it’s likely to be years before he goes on trial which means he may not even be around when his trial does come around.”
Cops found the drugs lab when they raided a pad in Torrevieja, on the Costa Blanca, on December 18.
It was capable of producing up to €8million of drugs, mainly toxic pink cocaine. They also found a revolver wrapped in plastic and hidden outside.
‘HASN’T CONFESSED’
Offering the first details of the gun that was found, the top cop said: “It was an old revolver but one that could kill.
“He hasn’t confessed to being the owner but we think he could have been using it as a substitute gun and keeping it there in case of some emergency.
“He was the only person held at the property where we discovered the drugs laboratory.
“We raided the house at night when he was still sleeping.
“He hasn’t offered any type of explanation about anything. He’s remained silent throughout.
“He hasn’t wanted to say anything, to the police or the courts.”
DRUG LAB FOOTAGE
Spanish police went public on Thursday with the first images of the drug lab that led to Gilligan’s arrest and subsequent remand in prison after appearing before a judge.
Cops also released footage showing the moment armed officers used battering rams to smash into the property.
In their first comment on Gilligan’s detention last December, they accused him of flooding the region’s streets with illegal narcotics.
They alleged he was working with a “a family crime clan of Macedonian origin”.
PRODUCTION POTENTIAL
More than 16kgs of pink cocaine, or tusi, were seized along with 2.5kgs of cocaine and a mammoth stash of substances and machinery needed to produce drugs.
Spanish cops said: “With the substances seized in the lab it’s estimated the criminal gang could have produced between 300 and 600 kilograms of drugs.”
Gilligan was acquitted in the Irish courts of ordering the 1996 murder of journalist Veronica in 2001. But he was convicted of importing two tons of cannabis resin and caged for 28 years, reduced to 20 on appeal.
