A joint operation by the Tax Agency and the Guardia Civil

• The drug was attempted to be introduced using the 'blind hook' technique in two of the cases and camouflaged inside the merchandise in the third.

October 25, 2022 .- Customs Surveillance officials from the Tax Agency and agents from the Civil Guard have seized 620 kilos of cocaine in the port of Valencia in three seizures of containers that came from Central and South America.

The first of these operations was carried out on October 10, when investigators detected a container suspected of transporting drugs. After opening the vehicle, 224 cocaine pills, each weighing one kilo, were found placed among the transported merchandise, which was fruit juice. The seized container originated in Costa Rica and was destined for Valencia.

A few days later, on October 17, the second arrest took place. After a new inspection of the container, 365 cocaine pills, each weighing one kilo, were detected placed on top of the merchandise, in this case jars of piquillo peppers from Peru.

In both containers, the narcotic substance was hidden in packages that had been placed, without the knowledge of the sender or recipient, on the cargo and in the side spaces of the containers. This format of attempted drug introduction is known as 'missed hook' or 'rip off'.

The technique consists of drug traffickers accessing the container at some point during the transport of the merchandise to introduce the cocaine and, when it arrives at another port, opening it to recover the drug before it is inspected by Customs.

Two days later, on October 19, the third intervention took place. In this case, the drugs were hidden inside sheets of plywood, coming from Brazil and destined for Syria, and were located thanks to the scanning of the container carried out by the Brazilian authorities. 18 packages of cocaine weighing 31 kilos were found.

As a result of these interventions, crimes against public health in the form of drug trafficking, money laundering and organised crime are being investigated. No arrests have been made so far.