The Policía Nacional of Spain recently made history with their largest-ever cocaine seizure on the high seas. They seized almost 10 tons of the drug, ingeniously camouflaged in a shipment of salt on a merchant vessel off the Canary Islands. This huge, recent operation resulted in the sting of 30 arrests. Law enforcement confiscated over $43 million in assets associated with drug trafficking.
In the course of the operation, drug enforcement authorities confiscated over 2,475 kilograms of cocaine as well as high-powered assault weapons. The police confiscated boarding ladders and other nautical gear. They think these things were in the trafficking pipeline. Authorities confiscated eight luxury vehicles from the suspects and more than €166,000 (£144,000) in cash. They confiscated €100,000 worth of wristwatches and jewellery.
In early October 2024, police stumbled upon a gruesome crime scene. They identified 88 kilos of cocaine stashed in a car concealed in Mijas, a small town in southern Spain, launching an extensive investigation. Authorities later learned that a ship passing through Portuguese waters had reported armed stowaways on board, tasked with retrieving the drugs from the containers. Unlike the stowaways who made it, these intruders escaped after their scheme was foiled.
In another string of disasters, authorities confiscated 1.4 tons of cocaine—one at a time. The drugs were discovered within a second shipment aboard a vessel destined for port of Cádiz. The police have opened an investigation, associating this operation with advanced smuggling methods used by drug trafficking organizations.
“The gangs used the so-called ‘monkey’ technique to get the shipments of cocaine into maritime containers that were being transported on container ships,” – “theguardian.com”
Law enforcement characterized these operations as sophisticated. Specifically, they issue military commands to intimidate crews of merchant ships and rescue containers loaded with drugs.
“This method involves throwing the merchandise from a merchant ship for collection by smaller vessels near the destination country, subduing the ship’s crew and extracting the drugs from inside the containers, using military techniques and weapons of war,” – “theguardian.com”
Many of these group’s members make the pilgrimage to Spain each year. They catch boats before they make it to the strait of Gibraltar, providing a tiny glimpse into the massive coordination that fuels these migrant trafficking routes.