By land, sea and also air. The Civil Guard arrested six people involved in transporting hashish to the Andalusian coast using helicopters. The organization specialized in low-altitude travel with planes loaded with almost a ton of narcotic substance, which was then distributed by road to different countries in Europe. The operation, called Turn and carried out in the provinces of Almería, Málaga and Murcia, led to the seizure of 657 kilos of hashish, five firearms and one of the devices used in the plot. Those arrested are accused of drug trafficking, membership in a criminal organization and illegal possession of weapons.
The group of criminals carried out clandestine flights from northern Morocco. They loaded the helicopters – of different models – with between 500 and 900 kilos of hashish, divided into bales. They then flew at low altitude, near the sea, “to go unnoticed by radars”, according to Civil Guard sources. They traveled around 250 kilometers from the north of the African country to Almería, in around two hours. They landed in an isolated desert area in the municipality of Níjar (31,816 inhabitants), where they quickly hid the plane and the goods in a warehouse. From there, they were transported in cars and vans to different warehouses, called nurseries. Eventually, later, the bales were distributed by road to different parts of Europe. “The operation was repeated again and again,” they explain from the Armed Institute.
The investigation was opened by the Judicial Police Unit of the Malaga Civil Guard. The agents had detected that several suspicious people were traveling early in the morning between the province of Malaga and Almería. Everything indicated that they were engaged in drug trafficking, so they decided to follow them closely. They discovered that these people maintained close collaboration with those who sent “constant drug shipments” from Morocco by helicopter. Always by air and intended for the solitary spaces of the municipality of Níjar.
Finally, investigators searched a farm located in the municipality of Almería, where they found 657 kilos of hashish distributed in 25 bales. At the same time, entries were made in other homes and warehouses located in other towns in the province of Almería, in addition to Malaga and Murcia. They found one of the helicopters, as well as five long weapons, several vehicles and 2,900 euros in cash, among other things. Officers also arrested six people accused of drug trafficking, illegal possession of weapons and membership in a criminal organization.
The operation, promoted by agents of the Judicial Police of the Civil Guard of Malaga, also benefited from the collaboration of the Regional Center for Analysis and Intelligence against Drug Trafficking (CRAIN), as well as the Central Operational Unit (UCO) and the Rapid Action Group (GAR) of the Civil Guard, in addition to the Royal Gendarmerie of Morocco, the Federal Police of Belgium and the Police of Sweden.
Barely a month ago, the Civil Guard also arrested eight other people to dismantle another criminal organization that was dedicated to smuggling hashish from Morocco using homemade drones, assembled by the criminals themselves in the town of Alcalá de los Gazules, in Cádiz. In the operation, called hiveeight of these aircraft intervened, which had the capacity to cover routes of more than 200 kilometers. The group sent up to ten of these drones at a time to the North African territory, where they were loaded with hashish and returned to the region of Tarifa and Vejer de la Frontera. There, they released the packages with a beacon to locate them, where they were recovered. It was then stored for later distribution. During the police action, 150 kilos of hashish and 320,000 euros in cash were also seized.
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