Spain’s Guardia Civil dismantled an organisation dedicated to moving large quantities of hashish by helicopter on low-altitude night flights between Morocco and Cádiz or Seville.[1] Nine people were arrested, including two pilots described as experts in low-altitude night flights.[1] One helicopter was intercepted at a property in Chiclana de la Frontera.[1] Five people were arrested there.[1] One trafficker was killed in a car crash while trying to flee at high speed.[1] That trafficker was described as one of the network’s most important leaders.[1] Four other people were then arrested at Utrera, near Seville.[1]
Inside the intercepted helicopter, officers found 30 bales containing a total of 795 kilos of hashish.[1] A second helicopter was also seized.[1] That helicopter was still being fitted out for drug flights.[1] The rear seats of both aircraft, bought in eastern European countries, had been removed to make room for the hashish.[1]
Police tracking the traffickers followed one aircraft leaving the Cádiz area of Andalusia in the far south of Spain.[1] It was flying very low and without lights toward Morocco.[1] The Moroccan authorities detected the aircraft, which stayed only briefly before returning to Cádiz.[1] The operations were carried out jointly with Morocco’s royal gendarmerie.[1] Spain’s proximity to Morocco makes it the main gateway for hashish entering Europe.[1]
