MADRID - The Spanish Civil Guards on Monday confirmed the seizure of over 900 kilos of cocaine and 10 arrests in an operation centered on the port city of Algeciras in the south-west of the country.

A Civil Guard statement explained the cocaine had "come from South-America hidden in a cargo of fruit", and Spanish Interior Minister Juan Ignacio Zoido called the operation a "new blow to drug smuggling carried out by the Spanish security forces".

"They broke open the seals on the container to remove the drugs before the organization resealed the container with false tape," explained the Civil Guards.

Two trucks and two semi-trailers were also seized in the operation along with several elements of communication.

The operation began when Civil Guards in the region became aware of an organization dedicated to extraction of large quantities of cocaine from Algeciras and consequently set up an observation operation.

Two of those arrested worked in the port where they helped to find the containers which were used to transport the cocaine and then to extract the drug, which was taken out of the port area in the semi-trailer which were specially fitted with compartments with false bottoms.

Spain's geographical situation on the south-west corner of Europe means it is a natural entry point for hashish from North Africa and cocaine from Latin America.

Figures for 2016 showed that Spanish authorities seized 324,379 kilos of hashish, mainly produced in Morocco, and 15,629 kilos of cocaine from Latin America.

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