Operation 'Racel’

• The drugs were seized just as the traffickers were transferring them from a fishing boat to a refrigerated lorry in the port of San Pedro del Pinatar.
• Two Spanish nationals and another Moroccan national have been arrested.
• In recent months, Customs Surveillance officers in Murcia have been keeping a close eye on people and vessels to potentially be used by a smuggling organisation to smuggle drugs into the area.

October 11, 2021 .- Officials from the Customs Surveillance Service of the Tax Agency in Murcia have seized 4,360 kilos of hashish in the port of the Murcian town of San Pedro del Pinatar. The investigators, who had the suspects under surveillance, took advantage of the moment when they were transferring the drugs from a fishing boat to a refrigerated lorry to seize them and arrest three traffickers, two Spanish nationals and another person of Moroccan nationality.

The operation, known as 'Racel', has its origins in a series of actions initiated by the Customs Surveillance Department of the Tax Agency in 2020, when it began to investigate different people who could be part of a smuggling organisation.

According to the investigations, this organisation was preparing to smuggle a large quantity of hashish by taking advantage of the fishing trips made by a fishing boat based in the port of San Pedro del Pinatar.

During these months, Customs Surveillance officers in Murcia investigated both the people who may be part of this criminal organisation and the vessels that could be used.

Surveillance operation

Finally, on the afternoon of 6 October, investigators observed how one of the persons under investigation hid a refrigerated lorry belonging to him in the vicinity of the fishing port, a very discreet vehicle for transporting drugs out of a port area.

At the same time, one of the vessels under investigation put to sea at the same time as other fishing vessels with the same characteristics, but in this case without carrying fishing gear.

In view of these facts, the investigators organised a surveillance and control operation awaiting the return of the fishing vessel, which took place in the same port a few hours later.

Running of the ground operation

At the same time as the fishing vessel was approaching its mooring point, the refrigerated lorry was approaching the site. As soon as they docked, a series of bales, usually used to transport hashish resin, began to be transferred from the deck of the fishing boat to the lorry.

At that point, Customs Surveillance officers intervened. After identifying themselves and verifying that a substance that appeared to be hashish was indeed being unloaded, they proceeded to arrest the three people involved in the unloading, two of Spanish nationality and one Moroccan, and to seize the goods.

Subsequently, after the drugs were completely unloaded, it was found that there were 130 bales of hashish, with a total weight of 4,360 kilos.

The police proceedings, the detainees, the drugs, the fishing boat and the refrigerated lorry will be handed over to Investigating Court number 4 in San Javier in the next few hours. The proceedings remain underway and new arrests may still be made.

Filming of operation (to download the video you must enter the following web address): https://we.tl/t-z7siarw8hN