Spanish Authorities Bust Underwater Drug Ring: 30 Arrested in Hashish Trafficking Operation

The people arrested on Sunday, September 22nd, are all members of an organization specialized in drug trafficking in the Tarifa area. These traffickers practiced diving to recover drug bales submerged in the Mediterranean.

According to information received by L’essentiel from the Civil Guard, the organization had "a specialized branch that uses small boats to introduce drugs through the port of Tarifa".

Another branch of the same organization used inflatable boats and experts in scuba diving to "recover the hashish shipments previously placed at the bottom of the sea, facing the coasts" of Tarifa, according to the police.

The Spanish authorities announced that they had seized two tons of hashish from Morocco, as well as three boats and five vehicles.

One of the 31 people arrested in Andalusia was a member of the public sea rescue service and is suspected of having warned the traffickers of "the possible presence of Civil Guard vehicles and boats".

The extreme south of Spain is plagued by the trafficking of hashish imported from Morocco. According to AFP, more than half of the seizures of this drug in Spain were made in the province of Cadiz, where the city of Tarifa is located, more precisely, 182 tons out of 335, or 54%, according to the latest available data.