Spanish Police Bust Drug Ring Using Fake Ukraine Aid Convoy to Smuggle Cannabis

Drug traffickers are overflowing with imagination to hide their merchandise. They tried to send cannabis to several European countries through a fake humanitarian convoy for Ukraine, reports Le Parisien. The suspects "thought they would go unnoticed during police checks and at borders," notes a press release. The Spanish Civil Guard conducted operations that resulted in the arrest of about thirty people in several cities in Andalusia, including Seville, Malaga and Granada. Originally from Spain, Ukraine, Germany and Morocco, these traffickers were supplied "from cannabis plantations scattered throughout Andalusia," the Civil Guard said in a press release cited by Ouest France.

The modus operandi of these suspects was to conceal the goods destined for European countries in cardboard boxes "which they passed off as provisions and humanitarian aid for Ukraine," details the same source. In addition to the massive arrests, the Spanish law enforcement authorities also seized nearly 800,000 euros and 2,500 cannabis plants and six firearms.