Historic blow to drug trafficking in Spanish waters: there were 40 tons of cocaine

BarcelonaForty tons of cocaine are forty million grams of drugs. That is to say, forty tons of cocaine would be enough for almost every inhabitant of the Spanish state to have one gram of white powder for themselves. What's more, if the forty tons were a single line of cocaine, it would measure more than 20,000 kilometers and would almost go around the world. These two similes help to understand the magnitude of two operations carried out by the Guardia Civil: the Spanish police have intercepted 41 tons of cocaine in two blows against high-seas drug trafficking. One of these operations ended with 30 tons seized and has already become the largest seizure of this drug in Spain. Also, according to the Ministry of the Interior, it is the biggest blow to global drug trafficking in a single operation.

The person in charge of presenting this balance sheet was the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, who described that these two "macro-operations" carried out in the Atlantic Ocean have attacked "the heart of drug routes". The minister highlighted "the forceful and decisive strategic advance against transnational organized crime" that the two investigations have represented, which have resulted in 77 arrests, with the 41 tons of cocaine intercepted, and also with 8.5 tons of hashish. Likewise, about twenty maritime vessels, vehicles, and weapons have been seized, and the value of the drugs on the black market has been estimated at more than 812 million euros.

The operation that has seized the most tons of cocaine, named Abisal, was carried out on May 1st on the high seas with the interception of a ship, the Acronian, loaded with about thirty tons of this substance. According to Marlaska, the ship sailed from West Africa, even though this was not the origin of the drug – almost all the world's cocaine is produced in South America. In fact, according to the minister, it is not clear that Spain was the destination, but rather that it could have been just a stopover on the way to Europe.

In the intervention on the Acronian, the Guardia Civil subdued six of the occupants who were armed with MP4 assault rifles and Glock pistols, and who, as Grande-Marlaska specified, were responsible for guarding the drugs to prevent them from being stolen by other criminal organizations. Of all the crew members, the National Court has sent 23 to provisional prison.

The shadow of a feared mafia

The minister has confirmed that behind the ship Acronian is the shadow of the Mocro Maffia, the all-powerful criminal organization based in the Netherlands and Sweden and operating throughout Europe. However, Marlaska has denied that there is a "serious infiltration" in Spain. Police sources consulted by ARA often warn of the fear on the Costa del Sol regarding the arrival of groups linked to the Mocro Maffia, as they are very violent and are breaking the peace among drug traffickers. However, Marlaska wanted to clarify that behind this intervention there is not only a drug mafia. In fact, it is increasingly common for cartels to collaborate with each other.

Another operation by the Guardia Civil, carried out between April 13 and 26 in the Atlantic, managed to intercept 11 tons of cocaine. During the days the operation lasted, several interventions were made in the middle of the ocean, in the Canary Islands, on the Guadalquivir River, and in the ports of Ceuta and Algeciras, as well as in points in the provinces of Huelva, Cadiz, Malaga, Jaen, Almeria, and Murcia. Under the name Alfa Lima, the operation resulted in 54 arrests and, in addition to cocaine, 8.5 tons of hashish, 21 kilograms of marijuana, and nearly 30,000 liters of gasoline.