Rabat – Spain’s Civil Guard and National Police have dismantled a drug trafficking ring that transported hard drugs like heroin and cocaine from the Netherlands to Morocco through the Spanish enclave of Melilla.
The authorities arrested five suspects of Spanish and Moroccan nationalities, who all hold extensive criminal records, Spanish outlet El Faro de Melilla reported on Friday.
They also seized 2.5 kilograms of heroin and over 22 kilograms of high purity cocaine, as well as possessions valued at over 900,000 euros.
The criminal ring would transport the drugs from Europe to Morocco through mule vehicles. The investigation was launched in August 2022 after Dutch authorities apprehended a Spanish citizen with 8 kilograms of cocaine in his possession.
El Faro de Melilla reported that the group would store the drugs in a nursery building in the Spanish enclave, and wait for the perfect chance to bring them into Morocco.
The leader of the ring, reported to be a Moroccan male, was based in Melilla and was responsible for the entire operation’s logistics and infrastructure. He had an international extradition order on him by the Moroccan authorities.
The five people arrested on Friday will be brought before the courts on the counts of belonging to a criminal organization and a crime against public health in the form of drug trafficking, the outlet added.
Border security is one of the main priorities of Moroccan-Spanish cooperation.
Last year, a meeting between Morocco’s General Director of National Security and Territorial Surveillance (DGSN-DGST) Abdellatif Hammouchi and his Spanish counterpart Francisco Pardo Piqueras saw the two officials reiterate their plans to increase cooperation to tackle security threats and trafficking rings.
