British National Among Six Arrested in Tenerife After Discovery of 13 Tonnes of Laughing Gas During Party Raid

SIX people including a British national have been arrested in Tenerife after police seized 13 tonnes of laughing gas in a sweeping crackdown.

Another six people are being investigated by police as part of the operation against a criminal gang planning to distribute the substance.

The near-record amount of laughing gas was found by cops alongside cocaine, cannabis and party drug Tusi, as well as five imitation firearms.

Police sources confirmed today at least one Brit was among the dozen suspects, but they were unable to offer any more information.

A spokesman for the Civil Guard in Tenerife said: “Officers in the south of the island have dismantled a criminal organization dedicated to the illegal importation, storage and distribution of nitrous oxide or ‘laughing gas’, a substance used as a recreational drug.”

They said the 13 confiscated tonnes marked the second-largest seizure of nitrous oxide in Europe.

The six people being investigated have not been arrested but are instead being probed as part of the operation.

Cops added: “Six people have been arrested in the operation and another six investigated as the alleged perpetrators of offences of membership of a criminal organisation, drug trafficking, trafficking in substances harmful to health and money laundering.”

The alleged gang had been planning to sell and distribute the substance across the Brit holiday hotspot.

Operation ‘Centro’ began when cops became aware of laughing gas consumption in different leisure areas in the south of the island.

They continued: “The investigation uncovered the existence of a hierarchical criminal structure, made up of a family-based leadership core, with one branch dedicated to the logistics and receipt of merchandise from abroad, and another responsible for final distribution on the island.”

During four searches on the Spanish island, cops seized 10,394 containers of nitrous oxide weighing almost 13,000kg, as well as over £50,000 in cash.

The raids took place in the Tenerife municipalities of Arona, Adeje and Granadilla.

Police also located 213g of cocaine, 599g of hashish, 1.4kg of cannabis and 46 grams of the substance known as ‘Tusi’.

They also found pills, mushrooms, capsules and edible preparations containing cannabinoids.

Five imitation firearms and eight bladed weapons were also seized, including several axes, electronic devices and a number of documents.

Cops said: “The investigative proceedings point to the existence of a criminal structure with clearly defined functions, dedicated to importing the gas to the island of Tenerife, receiving and storing it in different properties, and subsequently distributing and selling it through a supply network on the island.

“The investigation remains open and further arrests have not been ruled out.”