Hlcopters photo by Hugo Ramos.
Spanish Customs Surveillance Service (Aduanas), National Police and Civil Guard seized nearly 2.5 tons of cocaine in a joint counter-narcotics operation.
January 15, 2026. — Spanish Customs (Aduanas) officials from the Tax Agency (AEAT), in a joint operation with the Civil Guard (Guardia Civil) and National Police (Policía Nacional), have carried out a complex investigation that has culminated in the dismantling of three criminal organizations that worked in a coordinated manner, dismantling all the infrastructure they used to introduce large quantities of cocaine from Colombia into Spain by assaulting container ships.
Thirty people have been arrested and 19 searches have been carried out in which more than 2,475 kilos of cocaine, more than 166,000 euros in cash, jewelry and watches worth 100,000 euros, eight high-end vehicles, weapons of war, 215 jerrycans of gasoline, various nautical equipment and ladders used for the assaults, as well as geolocation devices were seized. Similarly, real estate assets worth almost five million euros and four virtual cryptocurrency wallets have been blocked.
Three interconnected criminal organizations
Following the seizure of 88 kilos of cocaine inside a vehicle in the Malaga town of Mijas in October 2024, the investigation began, where investigators were able to learn of the existence of three criminal organizations dedicated to introducing the drug into Spain. One of them was linked to the ‘Balkan Cartel’ and owned the drugs, and the other was made up of people of Colombian origin who operated both in their country of origin and in Spain.
To introduce cocaine shipments into shipping containers transported on board container ships, they used the ‘climber’ technique. This is a form of drug trafficking that involves using young people who are good swimmers and from low-income families to load the drugs onto boats at sea. Subsequently, members of this same organization traveled to Spain with the intention of raiding the containers by intercepting the ships before their arrival at the Strait of Gibraltar. To do this, he relied on the logistical infrastructure provided by the third criminal organization based in the Campo de Gibraltar.
First failed assault
In the middle of this year, the crew of a ship bound for the port of Cadiz alerted the Spanish Maritime and Safety Agency (Salvamento Marítimo) to the presence of stowaways on deck, resulting in the seizure of 1,355 kilos of cocaine hidden in a container. The investigations carried out were able to verify how three men who had the mission of recovering the substance returned hastily to their country.
Shortly afterwards, another ship passing through Portuguese waters alerted the authorities of that country about the hijacking of the vessel by stowaways carrying long guns, who managed to unload several bales hidden in a container, in this case achieving the rescue of the narcotic substance by the organization.
They used the ‘drop off’ technique
Continuing with the investigation, during the months of September and October, another new drug seizure was detected. Three members of the Colombian organization and two men belonging to the ‘Balkan Cartel’ cell based in Costa del Sol, supported by the organization in charge of providing the high-speed boats, were able to recover the substance from one of the containers using the ‘drop off’ technique. 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.
In this way, cocaine was introduced into towns located in the Gulf of Cadiz, where it was hidden and finally transported by road to European countries.
As the investigation progressed, the various storage facilities used to keep the drugs were located, resulting in 19 raids and searches and the seizure of 1,032 kilos of cocaine, eight high-end vehicles, weapons of war, 215 jerrycans of gasoline, various nautical equipment and ladders used for the assaults, as well as geolocation devices. In total, 2,475 kilos of cocaine, more than 166,000 euros in cash and jewelry and watches worth 100,000 euros have been seized.
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