The Civil Guard increases cocaine seizures in the port of Barcelona
In one year, seizures in Catalan infrastructure have increased elevenfold, from one ton to 17
BarcelonaFrom just over one ton to 17 and with just one year's difference. From 2023 to 2024, the Civil Guard has multiplied by eleven the seizures of cocaine in the port of Barcelona, which has established itself as one of the main drug entries into Spain by sea. To these 17 tons, we must still add the seizures of the Tax Agency and Customs Surveillance, which are not included in the count that the Delegation of the Spanish government in Catalonia has made public during the Security Board that was held this Friday in the city hall of the capital. In 2023, the three administrations seized 17 tons of cocaine between them all. If in 2024 the Civil Guard alone already reached this figure, the overall figure is expected to increase significantly.
Sources from the Spanish Government Delegation in Catalonia point out that this increase in searches is mainly due to the increased surveillance of the Civil Guard over the criminal groups that control drug trafficking in the port. The Prosecutor's Office, in memory of 2023, recently published, warned of an "alarming growth" in the entry of drugs in freight containers in Barcelona, and also in other ports such as Valencia or Algeciras. "There is insufficient supervision of stowage," it said. An anecdote highlighted this lack of control: in 2023 they took a truck to the customs inspection area to check it, but before doing so they removed it (and that is a closed area), emptied it and when it was empty they took it back to the inspection area.
Now, the intensification work of the Civil Guard is beginning to bear fruit with an increase in seizures. During the press conference after the Security Board, the Deputy Mayor for Security, Albert Batlle, stated that this is a problem that affects many coastal municipalities and sent a warning: "Barcelona cannot be an entry or exit gate for drugs, and we must introduce elements of correction," he said.
The Lucky Cartel
A few weeks ago, the police force explained that it had dismantled the "most important" drug cartel in Catalonia, which had its epicentre in the port, from where containers arrived from South America with cocaine hidden among tropical fruit and heavy machinery. The leader of the gang was a man known by the nickname Lucky, who moved the tentacles of the organization from prison. In fact, the Civil Guard believes that it was Lucky himself who ordered The murder of two hitmen of David Caballero, a historic port stevedore who also had links to drug trafficking. The price for his boss was set, according to the wiretaps of the Civil Guard to which the ARA had access, at 200,000 euros.
The Civil Guard had begun to investigate the Lucky cartel in 2022 and three years later it was dismantled. The amount of money seized reaches six million euros, which shows the large amount of cocaine money that the organization moved. It is also evident that its leaders moved around with expensive, flashy and fast cars, of the Lamborghini or Porsche brand, and with a Rolex or a Patek Philippe on their wrists. The cocaine seized (not all in the port of Barcelona) reached 7,000 kilograms.
Balance of 2024
During the Security Council, the Spanish government delegate in Catalonia, Carlos Prieto, also reported that the National Police has worked on a thousand investigations, 12% more than in 2023. In this regard, he pointed out that the Spanish police have arrested 69 international fugitives, 34 of them in Barcelona. The immigration work of the National Police has been closed with 370 people arrested under the immigration law and 175 qualified expulsions.
