{"id":465393,"date":"2025-10-01T09:25:19","date_gmt":"2025-10-01T09:25:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/465393\/"},"modified":"2025-10-01T09:25:19","modified_gmt":"2025-10-01T09:25:19","slug":"drugs-smuggled-by-semi-submersible-boat-seized-in-spain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/465393\/","title":{"rendered":"Drugs smuggled by semi-submersible boat seized in Spain"},"content":{"rendered":"

SPAIN\u2019S war on drug trafficking has exploded in dramatic fashion, as police smash two major cocaine-smuggling rings operating on opposite ends of the country.<\/strong><\/p>\n

One involved a narco-submarine off the Galician coast, the other was a vast international network using \u2018spider-men\u2019 to climb shipping containers in Valencia.<\/p>\n

In Galicia, authorities intercepted a semi-submersible vessel loaded with over 3.6 tonnes of cocaine, sparking a high-speed pursuit that ended when traffickers ditched part of the cargo from a fleeing vehicle. <\/p>\n

The rest of the haul was discovered the following morning, hidden under a tarpaulin on Ni\u00f1eiri\u00f1os beach. The operation resulted in 14 arrests, including the three crew members of the sub.<\/p>\n

Investigators revealed the gang was part of a sophisticated criminal organisation using legitimate nautical equipment repair and sales businesses as a front to conceal its true operations. <\/p>\n

In the days that followed, 18 raids across the regions of Barbanza and O Saln\u00e9s led to the seizure of cash, vehicles, boats, communication equipment, and critical documentation linking the suspects to large-scale international trafficking.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Twelve of those arrested have been remanded in custody on charges of drug trafficking and membership in a criminal organisation.<\/p>\n

But the drama didn\u2019t stop there.<\/p>\n

At the Port of Valencia, a separate operation saw the National Police dismantle a colossal smuggling ring responsible for funneling cocaine into Europe through commercial shipping routes. <\/p>\n

In what is being described as one of Spain\u2019s biggest ever anti-narcotics operations, 81 people were arrested, including three members of the notorious Balkan cartel, 17 port workers, 9 lorry drivers, and 17 executives tied to five logistics firms.<\/p>\n

The gang\u2019s methods were as audacious as they were cinematic. So-called \u2018spider-men\u2019, elite climbers hired by the cartel, would scale towering stacks of containers to extract hidden drug shipments under cover of darkness. <\/p>\n

Meanwhile, insiders from transport companies and vehicle dealerships helped legitimise port access and smuggle the narcotics out without raising suspicion.<\/p>\n

Over the course of 59 raids across Valencia and Ibiza, police seized 4.5 tonnes of cocaine, \u20ac365,000 in cash, an arsenal of firearms, and a haul of luxury goods \u2013 the spoils of a drug empire that stretched across Europe.<\/p>\n

Click here to read more Crime & Law News<\/a> from The Olive Press.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SPAIN\u2019S war on drug trafficking has exploded in dramatic fashion, as police smash two major cocaine-smuggling rings operating…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":465394,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5312],"tags":[2000,299,18104,8626,104,18106],"class_list":{"0":"post-465393","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-spain","8":"tag-eu","9":"tag-europe","10":"tag-news-spain","11":"tag-newspaper","12":"tag-spain","13":"tag-the-olive-press"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115298194204241867","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/465393","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=465393"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/465393\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/465394"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=465393"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=465393"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=465393"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}