|
|
|
|
|
|
|
International Cooperation Department
Tel.: (+86-21) 65853850-8034
Fax: (+86-21) 65373125
E-mail: ICDept@sisi-smu.org
|
|
|
|
|
Ports |
|
| Containerised drug shipments! Over 4 tonnes of cocaine seized at Spain's largest port |
|
Date:2024-07-29 Readers:
|
On 26 July local time, the Spanish National Guard said in a statement that it had dismantled a criminal organisation that had introduced large quantities of cocaine through major ports in Europe and had seized more than four tonnes of cocaine hidden in bags of rice at the port of Barcelona, which was the largest single seizure of cocaine by the Spanish police to date.
The Spanish National Guard said that this investigation operation started last year and so far eight people have been arrested in Spain and another five are under police investigation, and the investigation operation has seized a total of 9.43 tonnes of cocaine, of which 4.02 tonnes were seized in the port of Barcelona.
According to the statement in question, the drug traffickers processed the drug into powder in Asuncion, Paraguay, and then put it into plastic bags, which were then hidden in hand-sewn rice sacks and shipped to Europe in containers. The containers arrived at the port of Barcelona earlier this year, but the cocaine was not discovered until July when smugglers moved the containers, police said. Picture.
The operation, code-named ‘Sogata’, is said to have led to the targeting of a highly covert criminal network cleverly disguised as an import-export company based in Toledo, whose operators were ‘regular’ but had long been acting as ‘behind the scenes’ for the drug cartels. The network was cleverly disguised as an import-export company in Toledo, whose operators were ostensibly ‘regular’ but in fact had long acted as a behind-the-scenes ‘logistics hub’ for drug cartels. After an in-depth investigation, the police uncovered the company's hidden transport routes that had been illegally developed over the years for drug trafficking, with its main source being Paraguay, and the port of Barcelona being carefully chosen as the key gateway for the drugs to enter Spain.
Paraguayan and British authorities have seized a further five tonnes of cocaine smuggled by the same criminal organisation in two raids in recent months.
Investigations revealed that in October 2023, three tonnes of cocaine were seized by Paraguayan police before the drugs were shipped to Belgium. And in March this year, British police seized two tonnes of cocaine at the port of Southampton, which was scheduled to be shipped to a Spanish company under investigation, based in Toledo.
https://www.cnss.com.cn/html/gkdt/20240729/354201.html
|
|
Back:
Barcelona port launches first OPS system at Hutchison Ports terminal
Next:
Chittagong port heavily congested with nearly 40,000 containers piled up
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
