Saturday, January 24, 2015

55 Detained, 11 Tons of Hashish Seized from Moroccan Network in Spain

1/24/2015

MADRID – Spanish police have smashed a major drug ring, arresting 55 people and seizing 11 tons of hashish from a network of Moroccan traffickers which operated throughout Spain and smuggled the drug to the rest of Europe, authorities said Friday.

Sources told Efe that the operation was the continuation of an earlier crackdown two years ago when police detained 35 people in Madrid and the neighboring region of Castilla-La Mancha and confiscated 11 tons of and managed to seize another 11 tons of the drug.

In the latest bust, in addition to those arrested and the drugs seized, two million euros ($2.2 million) in cash and seven firearms, including two assault rifles, and advanced communications equipment were found.

The arrests were carried out in eight provinces of Spain, including Madrid and Barcelona, and in Spain’s North African enclave of Ceuta.

The ring had independent cells distributed throughout Spain and shipped hashish to traffickers in Italy, Netherlands and the United Kingdom, according to the sources.

Powerful motor boats loaded with hashish were used to cross the Strait of Gibraltar from Morocco and drugs were also packed in the fuel tanks of trucks bound for Spain.

Once in Spain, the hashish was smuggled to other European countries, the sources said.


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