• The seized drugs are equivalent to more than 100,000 individual doses

November 27, 2025. On November 4th, the Tax Agency and the Civil Guard carried out an operation in which a passenger was arrested at Barcelona airport for carrying nearly 11 kilos of heroin hidden in packages disguised as coffee in his suitcase.

The operation took place at 1:00 p.m. at the Customs of Terminal 2 of the Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat airport, after detecting a suspicious image on the 'X-ray' scanner of the checked luggage of a passenger from Bangkok (Thailand), with a stopover in Kuwait.

Once the suitcase was opened in the presence of the passenger, the agents found 15 sealed bags inside, all of which appeared to contain coffee beans. Upon inspecting the contents, a brown substance was located which, after being subjected to the drug detection test, turned out to be heroin, so the passenger was arrested as the alleged perpetrator of a crime against public health for drug trafficking.

The Fiscal and Border Analysis Unit (Udaiff) at the airport carried out a total weighing of the substance which yielded a result of 10,966 kilos, which represents more than 100,000 individual doses, taking as a reference an average dose, which have been removed in this operation by the Civil Guard.

Heroin is a highly addictive and high-risk drug, especially dangerous when combined with alcohol or other central nervous system depressants such as benzodiazepines. Its consumption can cause respiratory depression and cardiorespiratory arrest even in small quantities.

The detainee, a 37-year-old Polish citizen, was placed at the disposal of the Court of Instruction No. 1 of El Prat de Llobregat (Barcelona), which is handling the case, and which ordered his provisional imprisonment.