Traditionally the region of Galicia made its money from the fishing industry, to which the coastal geography of the region lent itself. Following the crippling of the fishing industry, local fishermen began smuggling tobacco to keep their business alive. The successfulness of these tobacco smuggling activities led to the creation of clan-based groups who made their entire living off smuggling. Galician smuggling networks nowadays not solely concentrate on tobacco. It was when local criminal clans began making contacts in
Colombia and
Morocco that the illegal smuggling business began to thrive. Using their Colombian and Moroccan contacts,
Galician organized crime groups traffic cocaine and hashish, aside from
illegal tobacco, into the Spanish mainland. From Galicia it is distributed to major cities in Spain via other Galician contacts or via criminal groups consisting of Colombian expatriates. Criminal clans in the region have frequently been hostile to each other in recent years. While the Galician smuggling business in the beginning was very local, the internationalization of the organized criminal activities have led to crime-related clan feuds where
murder,
kidnapping and
torture is occasionally committed by criminal Galician clan-members or Colombian contacts and contract killers. Some clans have or had a very violent conduct. One of the most famous acts of violence related to the illegal drug trade was the massacre of "O Hostal da Ría", in
Vilanova de Arousa on 26 January 1997, where a drug dealer killed five people to avoid having witnesses of his involvement in heroin trafficking. In the 1980s and 90s, to gain popular respect, narcos financed popular festivities, schools, football teams and helped people in need. One of the most famous cases was the financing of the football team
Juventud Cambados by Sito Miñanco. Despite being a team from a small town its players were among the best paid of
Spain. ==Allegations of political corruption==