A joint operation by the Tax Agency and the Guardia Civil

• The drugs were hidden among the merchandise of a truck that was going to travel on the ferry that covers the route to the port of Rosslare (Ireland).

• The driver of the vehicle has been arrested

• The seized drugs would have reached a value close to 3,700,000 euros in the illicit market in Ireland.

June 2, 2022.- Officials of the Customs Surveillance Service of the Tax Agency in the Basque Country and agents of the Civil Guard who acted as State Fiscal Protection under the functional dependency of the Regional Customs Unit and II. EE. of the Basque Country, have seized a shipment of 575 kilos of marijuana in the port of Bilbao that was destined for Ireland. The seized drugs, once introduced into the clandestine market, would have reached an estimated value of 3,700,000 euros.

The operation was developed when investigators from the Customs Surveillance Service and the Civil Guard who were controlling the shipment of vehicles and goods on the ferry that connects the port of Bilbao with that of Rosslare (Ireland), detected a truck coming from the south of Spain. which aroused their suspicions because it could be used to hide contraband substances.

Within the framework of the actions to ensure the logistics chain of international transport and border control, a radiological inspection of the truck was immediately carried out with technical means from the Tax Agency of the Basque Country.

Once all the declared goods (lettuce) had been unloaded, 500 vacuum-packaged plastic bags were located that were camouflaged inside the boxes containing the lettuce. In this action, marijuana buds with a total weight of approximately 575 kilos were seized.

After opening all the packages and analyzing the substances found, it was determined that the hidden merchandise was a variety of high-quality marijuana, with a high value in clandestine markets.

"Modus operandi"

The "modus operandi" in this operation adds to a wide list of systems used by smuggling organizations to try to evade customs controls. In this case, on the one hand, camouflaging legal merchandise with illegal ones, taking advantage of the ordinary traffic of commonly consumed products.

On the other hand, with the use of the vacuum packaging technique, which has the double advantage of pressing the marijuana to reduce its volume and introduce more quantity, and at the same time hide the characteristic smell that would reveal its presence.

Due to these events, the occupant of the truck was arrested for a drug trafficking crime. The detainee, along with the pertinent proceedings, was handed over to the Investigative Court No. 1 of Barakaldo, which is hearing the case.