• Six members of the network arrested as allegedly responsible for the crimes of belonging to a criminal organization and crime against public health

• The agents have seized 220 kilos of cocaine that was hidden in the structure of the containers of 20 tanks with graviola pulp

July 18, 2024.- Officials of the Customs Surveillance Service of the Tax Agency, in a joint operation with the National Police, have dismantled a criminal organization dedicated to the importation of cocaine — coming from South America—hidden in double bottoms of metal pallets. Six members of the network have been arrested as allegedly responsible for the crimes of belonging to a criminal group and crimes against public health. In total, 220 kilos of cocaine have been seized hidden in the structure of several containers that contained graviola pulp.

The operation developed jointly by the Customs Surveillance Operational Unit of Seville, Group I of Narcotics of UDYCO Costa del Sol, the Group of Narcotics of the Local Police Station of Marbella and Group II of UDYCO-Pontevedra and, allowed to locate in the port of Algeciras 220 kilos of cocaine hidden among legal merchandise.

This arrest has made it possible to discover a criminal group that is dedicated to the introduction of cocaine into Spain through maritime containers.

After the efforts, surveillance and monitoring carried out by the multidisciplinary team, it was possible to find out that the members of the network were traveling through different towns in Andalusia to carry out transactions and that they were planning to receive drugs – which could be hidden in a container.

During the extensive police operation established, the agents were able to verify that the aforementioned container had arrived at the port, and the merchandise was removed by a truck that transported it to a warehouse in the town of El Ejido (Almería).

Upon verifying that said place did not correspond to the declared legal destination, the investigators proceeded to carry out a search of the ship where the cargo was introduced and after an inspection they managed to locate 220 kilos of cocaine hidden among the legal cargo, specifically inside metal structures. Each metal structure hid ten packages of cocaine hydrochloride, so that in the 20 metal structures that were in the warehouse, a total of 200 packages were rescued, weighing 220 kilos.

In this operation, several members of the organization were arrested; the driver of the truck, the owner of the ship and the two occupants of a van who arrived at the scene to remove the hidden narcotic substance.

In a second phase, the agents proceeded to arrest two other members of the network in Madridejos (Toledo).

Finally, this police operation has culminated in the arrest of six people for drug trafficking crimes and membership in a criminal organization. During its development, in addition to 220 kilos of cocaine, a vehicle, six mobile phones and documents of interest were seized.