ARCHIVED - 1,800 kilos of hashish intercepted off Granada-Almeria coastline
The boat was spotted heading towards the shore between Granada and Almeria in the Andalusia region, and the Guardia Civil initially suspected it to be carrying immigrants
Spain is a massive receiver of drugs; hashish from Morocco and cocaine from Latin America are trafficked into Europe through the Spanish coastline on a staggering scale; last year almost 38 tons of cocaine was seized, 350 tons of hashish and over 20,000 people were arrested in relation to drug trafficking.
Although the Interior Ministry launched a special security plan in July 2018 to try and combat drug trafficking in the Costa del Sol, rather than stopping the drug trafficking, it has simply pushed it out along the coast, prompting the drug gangs to look for new routes into the eastern coast of Spain – mainly Almería, Murcia and Valencia – with an increase in activity noted all along the Spanish Mediterranean coast as a result.
The Guardia Civil in Granada sounded the alarm at the weekend after detecting a vessel 20 nautical miles out from La Rábita-Albuñol, which they thought at first was likely to be carrying illegal immigrants as it was moving erratically and heading towards the Spanish coastline.
While police officers were sent to patrol the shores in case the boat reached land, the Provincial Maritime Service in Motril deployed a vessel to intercept the suspicious craft, reaching it when it was level with Adra (Almería). Two officers boarded the boat, which was found to have just two people, a 27-year-old man and a 32-year-old man, on board. After a thorough search, a hidden compartment was found to hold 45 hessian bundles of hashish weighing a total of 1,800 kilos.
The drugs and the boat were seized and taken to Motril, and the two men arrested as alleged perpetrators of a crime against public health for drug trafficking.
Arrests for drug trafficking increased in Spain by 12.3% during 2019, but so does the scale of activity.