Police have made another coke bust in the Port of Malaga as the Costa del Sol capital becomes the drug traffickers’ latest entry point of choice.
The haul included 82 kilograms of cocaine smuggled inside plant pots from the Dominican Republic but this time includes a number of arrests.
Nine people were arrested in Madrid and surrounding towns as part of the operation targeting the group, which allegedly dealt in small and medium-scale drug trafficking involving hashish, marijuana as well as cocaine.
The police managed to surveil the gang leaders and track their plans to import a large quantity of cocaine into Spain.
Officers intercepted the shipment, which was bound for an industrial estate in Coslada, Madrid, and found the drugs concealed inside plant pots.
They also bagged two indoor marijuana plantations and the seizure of over €13,000 in cash as part of the operation, which involved more than 40 officers.
The group’s illegal activities involved the importing, storing and eventually selling the narcotics, as well as producing their own marijuana.
Previously, Malaga port police discovered a whopping 600 kilograms of cocaine last month – their largest ever seizure.
But there were no reports of arrests at the time, as traffickers are using the gancho ciego (‘blind hook’) method whereby the shipping company and dock workers are unaware that they are loading and unloading drugs.
In 2019, several dockworkers and other people were arrested for attempting to establish a route from Brazilian ports to the port of Malaga.
At that time, 8 kilos of cocaine were seized, which were designed to test the waters and probe the port security.
Organised crime groups have been taking advantage of Malaga’s commercial boom to bring their drugs into Spain.
Malaga is thought to offer an alternative to other heavily exploited trafficking routes, such as Algeciras.
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