Join on WhatsApp
Join on Telegram
Rabat – Spain’s security services dismantled a drug trafficking network that used long-range fixed-wing drones to smuggle cannabis from Morocco across the Strait of Gibraltar.
Spanish news outlets reported on Tuesday that the security operation, dubbed “Ruche,” arrested nine individuals involved in illicit smuggling.
Europa Sur reported that Spanish security services will hold a press conference today to share more details on the operation, which they describe as an “unprecedented blow to the use of new technologies in drug trafficking.”
Spain also launched an investigation as part of probes carried out by the Civil Guard in Campo de Gibraltar, which is described as the main transit point for drug trafficking between Africa and Europe.
“The use of these devices [drones] allowed traffickers to bypass maritime and land controls by conducting low-altitude flights from coastal areas in northern Morocco to points along the Cadiz coastline, where the drugs were collected for subsequent distribution,” Europa Sur explained.
The same source added that Operation Ruche spanned several months, in which security services were deployed for surveillance work.
This is not the first time Spain has dismantled a similar network active in drug smuggling.
In May, the country’s security services also brought down a drug trafficking network that smuggled cannabis and cocaine across borders. The dismantled group maintained ties with Moroccan supplies.
The same month witnessed the arrest of eight people in Malaga and Melilla as part of an operation against a criminal network accused of smuggling cannabis from Morocco and laundering the profits across Spain.
One of the latest operations took place on October 29, when Morocco teamed up with Spanish security services to arrest 20 suspects, seizing over 20 tons of cannabis hidden among shipments of green peppers transported from Morocco to Spain through the Port of Algeciras.
The investigation began following intelligence shared by Moroccan authorities, which led to the identification of two refrigerated truck convoys suspected of transporting large quantities of drugs.
