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ARCHIVED - Drug smuggling: Underwater drones seized by Spanish police
Eight people have been arrested in Andalucia and Barcelona
Spanish police have seized three underwater drones designed to traffick drugs across the Strait of Gibraltar following a 14-month investigation in partnership with the French authorities which has led to eight arrests in Malaga, Cadiz and Barcelona.
Spain has become the gateway for smuggling drugs into Europe due to its proximity to Morocco, one of the largest cannabis producers in the world, and each of these unmanned submersive vehicles was built, allegedly by the criminal gang, to carry up to 220 kilos of cargo.
"These devices could allow drug traffickers to transport large quantities of narcotics remotely across the Strait of Gibraltar," said police in a statement.
🚩Desmantelada una organización que fabricaba #drones y #semisumergibles capaces de cruzar el Estrecho con hasta 200 kg de droga
— Policía Nacional (@policia) July 4, 2022
📍Hay 8 personas detenidas en #Cádiz, #Málaga y #Barcelona
👉1ª vez que se intervienen vehículos que operan bajo el agua sin tripulación a bordo pic.twitter.com/P81cRwjIVx
While one of these vessels was completely built, the other two were under construction when the authorities seized them. According to the official statement, the drones were due to be handed over to French drug traffickers.
In addition, police confiscated 14 kilos of hashish, 8 kilos of marijuana, almost 160,000 in cash, six large aerial drones and 13 different types of vehicles - including trailers with hidden "double bottoms" capable of transporting up to 800kg of cargo.
Over the course of more than a year, detectives discovered gang members were spread across Andalucia and Barcelona and were providing logistical help to clients in Italy, Denmark, and France.
The network reportedly specialised in building false boat bottoms and concealed storage compartments for cars and trailers before moving into building specialised air and marine drones, too.
Equipped with GPS navigation systems, the underwater drones could potentially be operated by drug traffickers from anywhere in the world using an internet-device such as a tablet.
A father and son are amongst the detainees, one of whom police say was a qualified helicopter pilot who had the technical expertise required to build such sophisticated vehicles.
Last July, the National Police seized a 4.35 metre drone which was being used to transport drugs from Morocco to Malaga. Four people were arrested for drug trafficking.
Image: Policia Nacional
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