32 tonnes of hashish seized in melon truck at Algeciras port
Spain's Guardia Civil intercepted a Moroccan lorry at Algeciras Port carrying 32,376 kilos of hashish resin hidden behind melons, in what was then the largest drug bust on dry land in Spain. The melons, shipped from Tangiers, covered only the first two rows of pallets.
Spain’s Guardia Civil intercepted a lorry from Morocco at Algeciras Port in Cádiz carrying more than 32 tonnes of hashish, the largest amount of drugs ever seized in one bust on dry land.[1]The 32,376 kilos of hashish resin had been hidden amongst a cargo of melons, and police valued the haul at 50 million euros on the street.[1][2]
The melons were purely cover: shipped from the port of Tangiers, they occupied only the first two rows of pallets while the rest of the space held hashish.[2]The lorry was to take the drugs to Perpignan, just over the French border, and the police operation was named Operación Melonar.[1]The Moroccan lorry driver faced a long time behind bars given the sheer quantity involved.[1]
The Gazette noted a larger 1996 bust of 36 tonnes from a Panamanian ship off Marín in Galicia, with 17 arrests, but that seizure was made at sea.[1]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
Guardia Civil officers in Segovia dismantled a clandestine marijuana plantation hidden in a greenhouse near El Espinar after neighbours reported a strong smell of cannabis. Two local residents were placed under investigation for alleged drug-trafficking cultivation, and officers seized 8.05 kg of plant material.
The Guardia Civil investigated a man in Aguilar de la Frontera, Córdoba, after a neighbour reported being threatened with a short firearm; he handed over an air pistol. Officers then found eight cannabis plants, about 1.60 metres tall, grown inside his home, with buds weighing 920 grams, and put the file before a court.
Guardia Civil officers intercepted a parcel holding 15.9 kilos of hashish resin at a transport company near Asturias airport, then arrested the 37-year-old Seville man who flew in to collect it in a simulated delivery. A judge sent him to prison on 6 November 2026.
Mossos d'Esquadra found a fully equipped forest camp in Figuerola del Camp holding more than 1,000 kilos of marijuana buds ready for sale. No arrests were reported and the investigation to identify those behind the site remains open.
