By Jon Clarke and Anthony Piovesan
She had been the Rolls Royce of cocaine smuggling since the 1990s and looked like every inch of her $700 blouses and $1,000 high heels.
But ultimately, the cocaine queen’s 25-year reign hit a snag in the road, which police say will permanently undo her criminal career.
Nicknamed the ‘cocaine queen‘, the olive press can today reveal her identity as Maria Teresa Jaimes Caicedo, a glamorous expat from Marbella, who lived a life of luxury in a giant mansion with two swimming pools, a tennis court and “a garden that looks like the rainforest “.
Now under arrest and awaiting trial, she has been singled out as the ringleader of a gang of 16, behind a Europe-wide cocaine smuggling operation.
Addressed exclusively to the olive pressA lead investigator has revealed how she managed to ‘live the high life’ for almost three decades, while quietly pulling the strings behind one of Spain’s biggest drug trafficking operations.
Describing her as ‘a real black widow’ – who has already seen two previous husbands put behind bars for smuggling – the undercover officer added that it was ‘remarkable’ that she somehow flew under the radar .
The Greco constable, who is part of the National Police’s Organized Crime and Drugs Unit Udyco, revealed how “astonished” his colleagues were when they began to investigate his opulent life.
“From the street his house was nothing special, but when we walked in it was like a town, with interconnecting paths and many outbuildings where his whole family lived,” he said. the olive press.
“I saw a lot of houses of criminals, but that was something else. About 3,000 square meters and with a garden like the selva with a tennis court and two swimming pools.”
He continued: “She supported about 10 people including her mother and four children and she had a daily fitness trainer and also took crossfit classes.
“If she needed a plane ticket, someone got it. A hotel was always five stars, a restaurant always the best. A boat, his friends had one. The cars, always changing, but nothing too flashy. Think BMW or Audi.
He went on to say that the €3million villa in central Marbella was “like a fortress” with numerous CCTV cameras, high walls and incredible security.
“She actually slept in her own panic room, which was only accessible through a false door from a library.”
He added that it could only be accessed by pressing a button which, like a Hollywood movie, opened onto a staircase leading to Maria Teresa’s suite.
The suite itself featured a raised marble jacuzzi, supported by marble columns, while a giant mirror was placed on the ceiling above the bed.
Inside a giant walk-in closet amidst racks of Prada shoes, Dsquared2 jackets and Gucci bags was a pack of cocaine that gave everything.
Appropriately adorned with a Rolls Royce logo – the kilo of cocaine had clearly been used to show the quality his family in Colombia could provide.
“A corner was missing that had clearly been siphoned off for potential clients and friends to try out,” Greco’s agent explained. “It was a big mistake for her.”
While she claimed to work as a “commercial mediator” and traveled regularly between Madrid and Barcelona, as well as Colombia, police began questioning her after a denunciation two years ago.
Called Operation Dryad (after the nymphs of Greek mythology, who were supernaturally long-lived and tied to their homes), the investigation discovered that she was the “mastermind” of a large Polish/Danish gang, which was doing smuggling drugs through Europe.
So far, police have arrested 16 people in Marbella, Alhaurin and Fuengirola, as well as Murcia, Barcelona and Alicante. The majority are Polish and Danish expats, along with Colombians and a few Spaniards.
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