Police seize more than 2 tons of cocaine hidden in charcoal containers in Spain after ‘more than a year of investigation’
More than two tons of cocaine have been seized during an operation carried out by Spanish police “after more than a year of investigation,” authorities announced Monday.
Twelve individuals were arrested, according to a statement from Spain’s National Police, whose agents, in conjunction with the Spanish Civil Guard and officials of the Tax Agency “dismantled a criminal organization allegedly dedicated to large-scale international cocaine trafficking.”
The suspects are accused of setting up a legitimate charcoal-importing business to cover their tracks.
According to investigators, through the organization, the group was able to introduce “large quantities of cocaine into Spain through the main Spanish ports.”
The drug-smuggling operation was led by two families with key members in Brazil and Paraguay who coordinated the shipments, police said. In Spain, a different group of individuals created companies to simulate the importing of products such as charcoal, rice, molasses or sanitary products, “in high demand in the current sanitary crisis.”
🚩Desarticulada una organización dedicada al tráfico internacional de #cocaína a gran escala
La operación se ha realizado en las provincias de #Cádiz, #Cuenca, #Madrid, #Málaga, #Murcia, #Sevilla, #Tarragona y #Valencia
12 detenidos y más de 2.000 kilos de cocaína intervenidos pic.twitter.com/gDxM2Nxzx8— Policía Nacional (@policia) January 18, 2021
The investigation into the operation, which began its activity by bringing charcoal to the port of Barcelona “in order to create an appearance of legitimate activity and prepare a subsequent shipment of cocaine hidden in charcoal” in early 2020, culminated in the seizure of 2.28 tons of cocaine hidden in a shipment of 44.1 tons of charcoal at the port of Algeciras in southern Spain — which had arrived from Paraguay.
Early last year, due to logistics problems with storing the charcoal, and also limitations stemming from the coronavirus pandemic, the suspects “were forced to close this route of entry” and move operations from Barcelona to the Port of Algeciras in mid-April.
The cocaine was hidden in the charcoal “with the clear intention of making it difficult to locate,” authorities said.
Police said that over the course of the probe, investigators carried out a total of 16 searches in homes, offices and other establishments; intercepted more than 100 telephone conversations; and analyzed nearly 200 containers arriving from the ports of Brazil and Paraguay into Spain.
All 12 suspects have been charged. Six are being held in custody, and six were released under specific conditions, CNN reported.
