Spain says it arrests British fugitive, breaks up global drug ring By Clare Kane and Iciar Reinlein "One of the arrested was Brian Colin Charrington, a long-time British criminal who is one of the top 10 most investigated criminals by European police forces," the Spanish police statement said. Venezuelan Justice Minister Miguel Rodriguez Torres said the gang was thought to have smuggled "more or less" 25 tonnes of cocaine to Europe from South America over the last decade. "We'll continue investigating and identifying the assets that these people have registered in different parts of the country," Torres said in a telephone call to Venezuela's state television. Among the high profile arrests, convicted British drug trafficker Mark Lilley was arrested in Malaga earlier this month in a panic room hidden behind a bedroom wardrobe. Venezuela, meanwhile, shares a long, largely unpoliced border with Colombia and has become a major transshipment point for Colombian cocaine on its way to international markets. The government in Caracas says its arrest of several high profile Colombian traffickers in recent years is evidence of its commitment in the fight against drug smuggling. Last year, Venezuelan security forces working with Colombian officers and U.S. and British intelligence agencies caught one of the most-wanted Colombian kingpins - Daniel "Crazy" Barrera - during a raid in a Venezuelan border city. The Colombian government said Barrera's group was capable of sending 10 tonnes of cocaine a month to Mexico's Sinaloa cartel, the most powerful organized crime gang in the Americas. Additional reporting by Daniel Wallis in Caracas; Editing by Mark Heinrich and Paul Simao