Spain-Morocco: the helicopter, the new weapon of drug traffickers

This criminal network dedicated to the international trafficking of hashish uses helicopters to transport the drugs from Morocco to Spain. Its dismantling came after an investigation conducted since mid-2023, which revealed that the organization was recruiting pilots to carry out these "narco-flights" from Morocco to Spain. The network had two helicopters that it hid in two farms in Seville and Cadiz, rented by the group’s leader, according to El Español.

On January 15th, the network’s helicopter, hidden in the Cadiz farm, was detected by investigators as it was flying at very low altitude and without lights towards Morocco. A device was set up by the Civil Guard and the Royal Moroccan Gendarmerie, which allowed investigators to follow the aircraft’s route as it entered Moroccan airspace, remained there for a few minutes before returning to Spain where it was intercepted upon landing at the farm in the city of Chiclana de Frontera (Cadiz).

In total, five members of the network, including the pilot, were arrested, and 30 bales of hashish weighing 795 kilos, as well as three vehicles, were seized. After this operation, searches were carried out and led to the arrest of four other people and the seizure of the second helicopter on a farm in Utrera, Seville. The two helicopters were equipped to transport up to 900 kilos of drugs. Their value is estimated at 900,000 euros each on the black market.