Turkish-led network raided in Spain; over two tonnes of marijuana seized
More than 400 French, Spanish and Turkish officers searched 28 sites in Granada, Malaga and Seville on 11 and 12 June 2024, seizing over two tonnes of marijuana and capturing the Turkish fugitive accused of leading a cannabis and heroin trafficking network.
More than 400 French, Spanish and Turkish officers searched 28 locations in Granada, Málaga and Seville on 11 and 12 June 2024, breaking up a Turkish-led network accused of moving large quantities of marijuana and heroin from Spain to Germany and Eastern Europe.[1][2][3]The searches seized more than two tonnes of marijuana alongside cash, firearms and ten luxury cars.[1][2][3]Europol coordinated the operation, which followed about nine months of joint work by Spanish, French and Turkish narcotics police.[1][2]
The arrests
Officers captured the suspected leader, Kerim Dağlıoğlu, known as Emre Karaca, a man of Turkish origin living in Spain and wanted on a Turkish international arrest warrant.[1][2]AFP reported 36 suspects arrested across ten nationalities, while Türkiye’s interior minister put the total at 42 including the leader.[1][2][3]
Officers also dismantled six indoor marijuana plantations.[3]The 28 searches comprised 20 in Granada, 6 in Málaga and 2 in Sevilla.[3]Officers seized a dozen luxury vehicles and more than EUR 100,000 in cash.[3]Officers seized three firearms and many cartridges.[3]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
AFP reported 36 arrests while the Turkish interior minister reported 42; the report states both counts and sets no single arrested figure.
No figure for the heroin the network was suspected of moving was published.
Europol gives no separate weight for the hashish or any suspected heroin, so no additional cannabis weight beyond the reported two tonnes can be recorded.
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.
