Spain’s Guardia Civil, supported by Europol, dismantled a cannabis trafficking and money-laundering network known as Los Pinchos that moved the drug from Morocco to the Algeciras and Campo de Gibraltar areas of southern Spain.[1][2] The group hid the cannabis on speedboats and landed it at a small pier it owned, a so-called narco jetty.[1]

On the action day, 7 July 2020, officers raided eight locations and detained 64 people, seizing 8,000 kilos of cannabis, six vessels, sixteen vehicles, and bank accounts and real estate worth more than 3 million euros.[1][2] More than 250 Guardia Civil officers took part, and Europol deployed three experts to Cádiz to cross-check intelligence during the raids.[1][2][3] All of the detainees held Spanish nationality.[2][3]

Investigators say the network could supply three to six tonnes of cannabis a month and laundered its profits through shell companies run by straw men, which bought property and nautical equipment for the smuggling boats.[1][2]