Attempt to open a cocaine entry route through the Port of Málaga thwarted
Joint operation by the Tax Agency and the National Police
- Among the eight detainees are several port facility workers
- Eight kilos of cocaine have been seized, which had been sent as the first test shipment using the “blind hook” method.
- One of those arrested allegedly provided the infrastructure necessary to extract the drugs from the contaminated container, thanks to the work he does in the port area.
August 9, 2019.- Customs Surveillance officials from the Tax Agency and agents from the National Police have aborted the attempt to open an entry route for cocaine through the Port of Malaga. Eight people were arrested in the operation, including five port workers, and six searches were carried out.
In addition, eight kilos of cocaine that had been sent as the first test shipment using the “blind hook” method were seized. The cargo was removed last July from inside a container registered at the Port of Valencia. The shipment was destined for the Port of Malaga, where the organisation unsuccessfully attempted to extract the illicit merchandise.
Thanks to the information analyzed by investigators, it became known that an organization was trying to open a new route for cocaine to enter our country. To achieve this, they had maintained contacts, since the end of 2018, with important workers at the Port of Malaga, who allegedly showed their willingness to collaborate in their objective.
Eight kilos of cocaine bound for the Port of Malaga
Last June 2019, National Police investigators, in coordination with the Tax Agency, coordinated their efforts to detect the shipment of possible containers that could transport the cocaine that members of the organization had introduced into Brazil, using the “blind hook” method, with end-use the Port of Malaga.
This is how a batch of 12 containers was identified that had their origin in the Brazilian port of Santos and were in Valencia waiting to be transported on another ship to their end-use in Malaga. The seal on one of the shipments did not match the one on the bill of lading from the Port of Salvador (Brazil). After it was opened, a raffia bag was observed containing eight packages wrapped in adhesive tape, concealing a total of eight kilos of cocaine.
They intended to open a new route for cocaine to enter Spain
The organisation was perfectly structured to carry out all the necessary tasks that would allow them to open a new route for cocaine to enter Spain through the Port of Malaga, which until then had been outside the most common circuits used by drug cartels.
Following the investigations, it has been possible to determine the different roles played by those under investigation. This is how the person in charge of supplying and transporting, through his associates in Brazil, the cocaine that would be introduced in the container destined for Spain was located. The contact with the rest of those under investigation was also identified, as well as his trusted man.
Another very important role was played by a worker at the Port of Malaga who, thanks to the work he performs, allegedly provided the necessary infrastructure at the facility to carry out the extraction of the drug from the contaminated container. Finally, several workers were also identified who, thanks to the work they do, were able to move freely throughout the port area, including the area where the containers are located and arranged.
It is worth highlighting the extreme security measures employed by some of those under investigation in terms of their communications, who from the beginning and throughout the investigation have used encrypted communication systems.
One of the detainees also grew marijuana
During the course of the investigations it was determined that one of those involved was also engaged in the cultivation of marijuana for later sale and distribution and that he had set up a plantation in a rural area near the town of Cártama (Málaga).
Investigators set up surveillance around his home and observed a truck with German license plates loading various items before setting off for France. Given the possibility that the vehicle was carrying narcotics, and in order not to harm the investigation into cocaine trafficking, French agents were contacted to intercept the vehicle. The truck was searched at the Benesse Maremne toll booth, and 37 kilos of marijuana were found inside.
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