{"id":23405,"date":"2026-05-14T15:33:51","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T15:33:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/23405\/"},"modified":"2026-05-14T15:33:51","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T15:33:51","slug":"spain-warns-drug-traffickers-stashing-areas-are-spreading-towards-the-balearics-with-high-speed-narco-launches","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/23405\/","title":{"rendered":"Spain warns drug traffickers\u2019 \u201cstashing areas\u201d are spreading towards the Balearics with high speed narco launches"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Spanish government has acknowledged, via the Department of National Security (DSN) report, that there are more than 600 go-fast speedboats suspected of carrying out operations related to drug trafficking, mainly in the Strait of Gibraltar<\/a> area, as well as an expansion of stashing areas increasingly towards the west (the coast of Huelva and Portugal) and towards the east (the Levante coast, from the coasts of Murcia to those of Girona and the Balearics<\/a>).<\/p>\n

\u201cWith regard to hashish trafficking, in 2025 the route from Morocco<\/a>, the world\u2019s leading producer, to Spain<\/a> appears to have been reactivated,\u201d states the report by the Department of National Security of the Presidency of the Government, to which Europa Press has had access. The report analyses 2025 and cites the death of a Portuguese Gendarmerie officer on the River Guadiana, when his official vessel was rammed by a drug-smuggling speedboat. Last week, two Guardia Civil<\/a> officers died whilst pursuing a drug-smuggling speedboat 80 miles from Huelva.<\/p>\n

\u2018It should be noted that attacks and harassment of members of the State Security Forces have continued. Drug traffickers sometimes do not hesitate to ram land vehicles and boats when they perceive a risk of interception or loss of the drugs, demonstrating greater aggression towards officers,\u2019 it notes.<\/p>\n

Although the number of violent incidents recorded against the State Security Forces \u2018has not been particularly high compared to previous years\u2019, the National Security Department warns that \u2018a greater offensive capability is being detected\u2019, citing the use of military-grade weapons by these criminal organisations.<\/p>\n

\u2018The areas of the Strait of Gibraltar and the Canary Islands-Atlantic arc present a growing vulnerability for Spain,\u2019 the government acknowledges. In this regard, it mentions that some organised groups may be using routes and means originally designed for drug trafficking to carry out activities linked to illegal immigration, thereby diversifying their criminal activity.<\/p>\n

Specifically, it notes that the COVAM (Centre for Maritime Operations and Surveillance, under the Navy) has reported more than 600 go-fast boats suspected of carrying out operations related to drug trafficking, mainly in the Strait of Gibraltar area. \u2018With regard to hashish trafficking, following the sharp decline in seizures seen in 2023, which continued throughout 2024, the route from Morocco \u2013 the world\u2019s leading producer \u2013 to Spain appears to have been reactivated in 2025,\u2019 it warns.<\/p>\n

In another section, the report also highlights the \u201cexcellent\u201d economic relations with the neighbouring country and notes that last year Spain was its leading trading partner. The DSN goes on to explain that whilst trafficking of this substance is mainly channelled by sea, once it has entered the country, the quantity of hashish transported concealed in lorries is \u201csignificant\u201d; this trend was already detected in 2023 and continues to rise, with land routes persisting from Almer\u00eda, Granada and C\u00e1diz to France and the rest of Europe.<\/p>\n

Linked to trafficking by sea, there has also been a \u201csignificant\u201d increase in fuel seizures in southern Spain, particularly in the provinces of C\u00e1diz and Huelva, intended to supply drug-smuggling speedboats. \u2018The pressure exerted on drug trafficking in the Gulf of C\u00e1diz and the mouth of the Guadalquivir River has led organisations engaged in this illicit activity to shift their area of influence to the province of Huelva, the Guadiana River and the Algarve region in Portugal,\u2019 the document continues.<\/p>\n

It emphasises that, aware of the seriousness of the problem, the Spanish and Portuguese authorities and security forces are maintaining a continuous and coordinated effort to combat this threat. It thus notes that the areas used for stashing drugs are expanding further and further westwards (the coast of Huelva and Portugal) and eastwards (the Levante coast, from the coasts of Murcia to those of Girona and the Balearics), \u2018with boats even being detected arriving in the south of France and Italy\u2019.<\/p>\n

At this point, the DSN again refers to Morocco. \u201cFearing the loss of their vessels, with the consequent financial loss, criminal organisations operate from Morocco, avoiding the Spanish coast to prevent interception,\u201d the report warns, adding that they resort to other small semi-rigid craft, fishing boats, sailing boats or pleasure craft.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn the emerging \u2018Atlantic hashish route\u2019, the drugs are loaded off the Moroccan Atlantic coast and transported by boat to African countries further south, such as Senegal, Guinea-Bissau and Guinea Conakry, where they are unloaded for onward transport by land through the Sahel to Libya, from where it can be sent to Europe or on to countries in the Middle East,\u2018 he says.<\/p>\n

To maximise profits and prevent the money from being traced, criminal organisations are engaging in \u201cbartering\u201d between cocaine and hashish, using the same vessel that imports cocaine to Africa and Europe to transport the hashish to those countries. The proximity to Morocco is also key when analysing the \u2018resurgence\u2019 of tactics such as the air route, using \u2018various types of aircraft, including drones, which carry out clandestine flights between Morocco and Spain to transport consignments of hashish\u2019, as has been confirmed in police operations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Spanish government has acknowledged, via the Department of National Security (DSN) report, that there are more than…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":23406,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1254,102,12410,6150,7039,605,12409,599,600,2264,2271,17,12408],"class_list":["post-23405","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-spain","tag-balearics","tag-crime","tag-drugs-smuggling","tag-gibraltar","tag-guardia-civil","tag-latest-headlines","tag-mafias","tag-majorca","tag-mallorca","tag-morocco","tag-organised-crime","tag-spain","tag-yachts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23405","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23405"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23405\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23406"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23405"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23405"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23405"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}