Spanish Police Bust Drone-Powered Drug Smuggling Ring from Morocco

The Spanish authorities are to hold a press conference this Thursday in Algeciras, in the province of Cadiz, to reveal the details of this operation.

This is not the first time that the Spanish law enforcement agencies have tackled this type of trafficking. The closure of the land border between Ceuta and Morocco in March 2020 has indeed pushed traffickers to redouble their ingenuity.

As early as February 2021, the Civil Guard and the National Police of Ceuta had put out of action a group of four individuals involved in the use of drones for the transport of narcotics. This investigation had been triggered following the discovery of a drone loaded with drugs, which had crashed in the mountains of Ceuta. During this operation, the police had seized four semi-industrial drones capable of transporting up to 25 kg of drugs, as well as three commercial drones.

The Moroccan authorities are also on the alert. In October 2021, a drone transporting 870 drug tablets was intercepted in mid-flight, as it was flying at low altitude over Moroccan territory, near the border with Ceuta.

A month later, in November 2021, new arrests took place in Ceuta, uncovering another drug trafficking network using drones.