Poland and Spain smash fruit-lorry gang; 20 held over 3 tonnes of cannabis
Polish and Spanish police with Europol support took down a network that smuggled marijuana from Spain to Poland hidden in refrigerated lorries, arresting 14 people in Poland and 6 in Spain on 23 April 2023. Investigators linked the network to 3 tonnes of smuggled marijuana worth about 30 million euros, with 42 arrests over the previous year.
Polish and Spanish police, with Europol support, took down an international
network that smuggled marijuana from Spain to Poland hidden in refrigerated
lorries carrying fruit, vegetables and potatoes.[1][2]
On 23 April 2023, coordinated raids in both countries led to 14 arrests in
Poland and 6 in Spain, with cash worth more than half a million euros seized in
various currencies.[1][2]Over the previous year, actions against the network
brought 42 arrests in total, including the ringleaders, and seizures of over
260 kilograms of marijuana, amphetamine and cocaine with a street value of
about 2.9 million euros.[1][2]
The lorries ran from Spain to Poland through the Netherlands and Germany, and
investigators found links between the network’s members and football hooligan
groups.[1]In an earlier strike in the same investigation, Poland’s Central
Bureau of Investigation arrested seven suspects in April 2022 after finding
158 bags of marijuana in potato trucks from Spain, plus 51 more bags at their
homes; investigators put the network’s marijuana smuggling at 3 tonnes worth
about 30 million euros.[1]
In May 2022, Polish prosecutors in Tarnow had already charged 14 defendants
over cannabis packaged in the Alicante area and trucked to Poland in fruit and
vegetable lorries, in proceedings aided by the FBI and Europol.[3]No court
outcomes for any of the suspects have been reported.[1][2][3]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
Both online accounts of the 2023 action repost the 1 June 2023 Europol release, so the action-day details rest on a single origin; no separate Spanish or Polish police statement was opened.
The 3-tonne marijuana total and the 30-million-euro estimate describe the network's alleged smuggling, not what was seized on 23 April 2023; that day's drug seizure is only given as a combined 260 kg of marijuana, amphetamine and cocaine, which is not counted as cannabis here.
The cash is reported as "more than half a million euros", so 500,000 euros is a floor.
It is unclear whether the May 2022 Polish charges reported from Tarnow belong to this same investigation: that prosecutor dates the first arrest to May 2021, while the Europol account dates the first strike to April 2022.
No breakdown of where the April 2023 searches took place or what each country's teams seized was published.
Płock police detained a 44-year-old man after finding drugs in his work locker and flat. He was charged with drug possession and supply and, as a repeat offender, faces up to 15 years in prison.
District officers in Tomaszow Lubelski detained a 39-year-old man wanted to serve six months for breaching a lifetime driving ban and found drugs on him and at his home, including several portions of marijuana. He was charged under Poland's drug-addiction law, which carries up to three years in prison, and was sent to prison to serve the earlier term.
Police on patrol in Makow Mazowiecki detained a 53-year-old resident after he discarded a foil package holding eight portions of drugs. Tests confirmed the substances were marijuana and amphetamine, and the man faces up to three years in prison for possession.
Szamotuły patrol police stopped a Skoda Octavia and charged a 48-year-old driver and his 28-year-old passenger with drug possession. Police seized marijuana and more than 90 grams of mephedrone, and the driver is also suspected of driving despite a court ban.
