Spanish police have intercepted 3.5-tonne haul of hashish disguised as oranges.
The huge shipment was seized on the beach of El Palmar, in the town of Vejer de la Frontera in Cadiz.
The stash, which also included cocoa sachets stuffed with narcotics and 1,400 litres of fuel prepped for drug boats, was discovered as part of an ongoing crackdown under the Special Southern Security Plan.
The special initiative is tasked with dismantling drug trafficking networks operating along Spain’s southern coast.
READ MORE: Revealed: The 10 happiest towns in Spain – with most of them in Andalucia
Two suspects were arrested during the operation and have since been remanded in custody.
The bust began with a tip-off about a night-time landing via a high-speed boat. Officers surveilling the area soon zeroed in on an all-terrain vehicle moving suspiciously near the shoreline.
It wasn’t long before the vehicle rendezvoused with a station wagon and a van, transferring what police described as burlap-wrapped bundles between the cars.
What followed was a tightly coordinated raid on a nearby property used by the gang as a stash house.
Inside, officers found 30 large bales of hashish, alongside 24 industrial construction bags packed with 1.8 tonnes of hashish balls disguised with latex coverings to mimic the look and feel of oranges – a trick aimed at evading detection.
Also seized were dozens of hashish tablets, cocoa packets concealing further drugs, and 69 drums of petrol – enough, authorities say, to power a fleet of so-called ‘narcolanchas’ across the Strait of Gibraltar.
Investigators believe the arrested pair are members of a wider criminal organisation. Both were presented before a judge and ordered into pre-trial detention.
Read more Spain news at the Spanish Eye.
