Joint operation by the German Tax Agency and Customs

• Spanish investigators detected the criminal organization's activity in preparing the shipment of drugs from the port of Barcelona to its destination in Almería.

• The administrator of the importing company had previously been linked by Spanish Customs to another shipment of cocaine by sea.

• Provisional detention ordered for the two detainees

June 3, 2026. Customs Surveillance officials from the Spanish Tax Agency and German Customs agents have carried out a joint operation that resulted in the seizure in Germany of eight tons of cocaine in a container destined for Spain and the arrest in Almería of two people as alleged perpetrators of the shipment.

The operation began on February 9 at the Jade-Weser port in Wilhelmshaven (Germany), when agents from the Central Customs Office of Oldenburg selected for inspection a container from Sierra Leone destined for Barcelona (Spain).

According to the declared information, the container was supposed to contain 400 sacks of cocoa beans and the indicated recipient was a fruit company in Malaga. During the 'X-ray' inspection, German customs authorities detected anomalies and proceeded to open the container. Instead of the declared cocoa beans, agents discovered more than 400 packages wrapped in black aluminum foil. Each package contained approximately 20 pressed blocks of cocaine. The total weight of the illegal cargo amounted to about eight tons of cocaine.

At that time, the Hanover Customs Investigation Office, representing the German General Directorate of Customs Investigation, began an investigation to find out who was responsible for the shipment.

Analysis of customs documentation determined that the merchandise was imported by a company in Malaga and that the container would be shipped from Germany to the port of Barcelona. Thus, a close collaboration was established with the Customs Surveillance Service of the Tax Agency.

Controlled delivery in Spain

Following coordination between Spanish and German customs authorities, the Anti-Drug Prosecutor's Office authorized the controlled delivery of the container.

The container arrived at the port of Barcelona on March 12 and from that date it was monitored by Customs Surveillance officials of the Tax Agency to prevent any organization from trying to steal the cocaine from the port. Furthermore, although the importer had his tax domicile in Malaga, the transport instructions and the end-use were unknown, and it could not be ruled out that it was done in some intermediate warehouse.

While the container was being monitored, under the direction of the Court of Estepona No. 2, Customs Surveillance officials in Barcelona, ​​Almería and Málaga were carrying out inquiries about the importing company.

Two arrests in Almería

Following the inquiries made, the administrator of the importing company was located in a hotel in Almería. This person, who had previously been linked to another container shipment of cocaine, was placed under surveillance, and it was determined that he was meeting with another individual. Both were making arrangements to pay for the transport costs so that the contents of the container could be unloaded at a warehouse in El Ejido that they had been preparing a few days earlier.

Finally, on May 14, the container left the port of Barcelona and the next day it arrived at the warehouse in El Ejido, where the two suspects were with the warehouse staff to unload the container, at which point they were arrested and brought before the court.

The operation was carried out by Customs Surveillance officials from the Tax Agency and the Customs Investigation Office of Hanover in Germany, with the coordination of the Spanish anti-drug prosecutor's office and the Aurich prosecutor's office. The two detainees have been remanded in custody and further action is not ruled out.