• Ecuadorian police have reportedly warned about the discovery of a broken seal on one of the containers transported by a ship from Guayaquil

November 12, 2024.- Customs Surveillance of the Tax Agency and the Civil Guard seized more than 2,400 kilos of cocaine hidden among sacks of salt on September 14 in the port of Barcelona. The drug was in a container from the port of Guayaquil (Ecuador) and was detected after an inspection carried out by agents of the Customs Surveillance Customs Guard and the Fiscal and Borders specialty of the Civil Guard.

The raid came after Ecuador's National Police alerted Spanish authorities that they had discovered a broken seal on the container, raising suspicions of possible illicit activity. These facts were brought to the attention of the Narcotics Investigation Service of the Customs Department and the Technical Unit of the Judicial Police (UTPJ) of the Civil Guard, who, after agreeing with the CITCO to jointly investigate the case, requested authorization from the Administrator of the Barcelona Customs to inspect the container.

Customs Surveillance officers together with agents from the Tax and Borders department of the Civil Guard carried out an exhaustive inspection of the container, which was supposed to transport sacks of salt, and discovered a shipment of cocaine distributed in 45 bags carefully packaged and hidden among the sacks. A total of 2,454 kilos of cocaine were seized and have now been brought before the court.

This police collaboration is the result of the so-called Operation GDIN (Global Drug Information Network), a project funded by the European Union against drug trafficking at a global level through the Anti-Drug Criminal Intelligence Centre with exchange of information and coordination of police forces in both Europe and Latin America.