Three airport workers at El Prat arrested for collaborating in the entry of cocaine from Brazil

BarcelonaThe National Police arrested three airport workers at El Prat in November 2025 for their alleged involvement in an organization that was smuggling cocaine from Brazil. The three employees intended to bring in three suitcases carrying 162 kg of drugs, avoiding the usual baggage checks. The dismantled gang operated from São Paulo - Guarulhos airport in Brazil, where recordings showed a person loading the suitcases onto a tractor and trailer directly into the aircraft's cargo hold, also bypassing all checks. A businessman from Baix Llobregat coordinated the gang's criminal activity. A total of five people were arrested, four in Catalonia and one in Brazil.

The three workers were employed in ground handling services, handling, and had over 10 years of service in their respective positions at the Catalan airport. The fact that some of them held responsible positions within the company facilitated the execution of the criminal activity and allowed them to carry out the drug extraction without attracting the attention of colleagues or airport authorities. According to information obtained by ARA, this worker received 10,000 euros for each shipment, and the other two received 3,000 euros. Spanish police are aware that they had already carried out several operations before being caught in November.

How the extraction worked

One of the employees was the one who acted first: he separated the suitcases in question and removed them from the usual circuit of luggage transported in the aircraft hold. A second worker took the cocaine out of the airport, and the third member of the organization, who was off duty, handed it over to the branch of the gang operating in Spain. After joint work between the Spanish and Brazilian police, on April 15, a businessman from Baix Llobregat was identified and arrested. According to the investigation, he would be the person who coordinated the workers at both airports, as well as the contacts at the origin to supply the cocaine entering Spain.

During the search in Baix Llobregat, more than 39,000 euros in cash (almost 10,000 carried by the businessman), four simulated war weapons, a high-displacement vehicle, another suitcase of the same characteristics, 268 grams of MDMA, and an indoor marijuana plantation with 302 plants were seized. The five detainees are charged with crimes of belonging to a criminal organization, drug trafficking, and illegal possession of weapons.

The operation, which is under judicial secrecy, was named Las Trillizas by the Brazilian authoritiesbecause the suitcases containing the drug were exactly the same, large and of a recognized brand.