Five arrested as police seize 2.6 tonnes of hashish bound for northern Europe
Spanish police arrested five suspects on 6 February 2013 as they loaded 88 bundles of hashish, about 2.6 tonnes, onto a German-registered trailer in a warehouse between Murcia and Almería, breaking up an Almería-based network feeding northern Europe. A sixth suspect escaped; German, Norwegian and Europol investigators were part of the wider operation.
🇪🇸 Warehouse between Murcia and Almería, southeastern Spain
On the afternoon of 6 February 2013, UDYCO investigators of the Spanish National Police arrested five key suspects caught red-handed loading a German-registered trailer truck with 88 bundles of hashish bound for northern Europe.[1][2]The network stored the drugs in a warehouse between Murcia and Almería; the bundles weighed 25–30 kg each, totalling about 2.6 tonnes, which Europol valued at about €4 million on the illegal market.[1][2]Two of those arrested were a Dutch father and son, two were Spanish nationals and one was an Irish citizen; a sixth suspect escaped and remained at large.[1]
A wider network
Europol said the Almería-based network was part of a wider multi-agency operation, with related investigations running for months in Germany, led by Lower Saxony investigators and customs, and in Norway, led by the Oslo police district with customs support, alongside investigators from Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom.[1]Intelligence moved through Europol’s SIENA network, which also funded the investigators’ joint meetings.[1]
Photos and video
Seized hashish bundles displayed by Spanish police in Almería.Photo details
The Guardia Civil, working with San Pedro del Pinatar's local police, arrested six people and shut a retail drug sales point in Lo Pagán, a coastal district of San Pedro del Pinatar in Murcia. A search of the house near Villananitos beach found quantities of hashish alongside cocaine, heroin and MDA, and officers also seized cash, scales and bladed weapons.
Guardia Civil officers arrested 12 people at the Port of Ceuta on 10 November 2026 after sniffer dogs detected they had ingested hashish pellets before attempting to board a ferry to Algeciras. All 12 suspects were taken to the Hospital Universitario de Ceuta, where X-ray scans confirmed the presence of ingested drugs in their bodies.
National Police detained two people in Linares, Jaen, dismantling two marijuana plantations and seizing 575 plants. The action was Operation Jaroco, with two home searches led by the local drugs group.
Spain's National Police detained two men in Astorga after a road check and a court-authorised house search, and located a flat used as a drug storehouse. Officers seized about 350 grams of drugs in all, including hashish and marijuana alongside cocaine.
