MADRID - Spanish police arrested 17 people and seized four tons of hashish smuggled from Morocco in separate anti-narcotics operations on the island of Ibiza and in Malaga.

 

 

 

In both cases, smugglers brought the drugs to the Spanish coasts by boat and, after hiding them away for a period of time, distributed them to other parts of Europe, the General Directorate of the Police and Civil Guard said.

In Ibiza, operation "Onda" (Wave) resulted in the arrests of 11 people and the seizure from two houses on the island of 105 bundles of hashish weighing more than 3,100 kilos (6,828 pounds).

This group belonged to one of the international networks "most active in the trafficking of hashish," police officials said.

Separately, as part of operation "Coleta" (Ponytail) in Malaga, authorities netted six suspects and seized 892 kilos of hashish. The arrests were made when the drugs were about to be unloaded in an area near the sports harbor of El Candado.

According to authorities, the suspects in both Ibiza and Malaga used sophisticated communications equipment and dark clothing to better camouflage themselves and avoid detection by police.

The organization had all the necessary infrastructure for transporting the drugs: people in Morocco to load the hashish onto the boats, drivers for the vessels, individuals to receive them at the destination points and other members of the network charged with storing and guarding the drugs.

The operation remains ongoing and therefore more arrests could be made.

 

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