Spain: complex underground tunnel found for smuggling hashish from Morocco
Spanish law enforcement has discovered an underground construction used to transport drugs from Moroccan territory to the autonomous city of Ceuta.
Spain: complex underground tunnel found for smuggling hashish from Morocco
Spanish law enforcement has discovered an underground construction used to transport drugs from Moroccan territory to the autonomous city of Ceuta.
The structure, concealed beneath a warehouse, consisted of three storeys and reached a depth of 19 metres. Inside, officers found dewatering pumps, soundproofing material, rails with trolleys for moving cargo, hoists, cranes and metal structures for raising packages to ground level. The lowest section, facing the Moroccan side, appeared to be an intricate system of mine galleries, according to reporting by N1 Slovenija.
The investigation began in February 2025. Since then, operations carried out in Ceuta and on mainland territory have resulted in the seizure of more than 17 tonnes of hashish and approximately 1.4 million euros in cash. Twenty-seven individuals have been brought before the courts, including two suspected leaders of the criminal network.
One of them, arrested on Moroccan soil, is identified as the designer of these tunnels. The second, who operated from Ceuta, would be the owner of all the drugs seized. The arrest in Morocco also appears to be linked to another conduit discovered during the previous year, according to N1 Slovenija.
Antonio Martínez, who oversaw the operation, described the construction as "very well equipped" infrastructure built by a "very powerful organisation" linked to other gangs that use speedboats and fishing vessels for the trafficking of narcotics. The total extent of the conduit remains undetermined because part of it is flooded.
Spain continues to be one of the principal entry points for drugs into Europe, owing to its proximity to Morocco—one of the world's largest cannabis producers—and its connections with Latin America. Ceuta and Melilla are the only land borders that the European Union shares with the African continent. During 2023, the country accounted for 68 per cent of all hashish seizures in the EU, according to figures from the European drugs agency cited by Reuters and reproduced by N1 Slovenija.
Source: Google News SI — Crime (sl)