Spanish Civil Guard Busts Major Moroccan Hashish Ring, Seizes 9,000 Kilos

The operation is the culmination of the investigation opened in August 2023 by the Civil Guard, which noted the existence of a criminal organization specialized in the trafficking of hashish from Morocco. The criminal network alternately introduces large quantities of drugs into Spain via the Guadiana and Guadalquivir rivers, depending on security considerations. The gang has several vehicles to transport the shipments to the provinces of Cadiz and Huelva, before transferring them to the province of Malaga, where they are then loaded onto trucks for distribution in Europe.

The leader of the criminal network, Carmelo Lapela, considered one of the biggest drug traffickers in the region, is currently on the run, according to El Debate, specifying that the operation carried out by the Civil Guard led to the arrest of 29 people and the seizure of 8,946 kilos of hashish, 123 kilos of buds and 736 marijuana plants. Searches carried out at the defendants’ homes also led to the seizure of eleven vehicles, a truck and four firearms.