This is the moment Spanish police seized a whopping 21 tonnes of cocaine after uncovering a major international network spanning South America, Spain and Dubai.

Some 43 people have been arrested following a two-year investigation codenamed Operation Mondragon, including eight in Spain and 35 in Ecuador.

According to the Guardia Civil, the gang used a web of legitimate-looking import companies to disguise shipments arriving from South America, concealing the cocaine inside commercial cargo containers which were shipped to the ports of Malaga, Algeciras and Valencia.

The force said the criminal organisation was divided into three branches.

The main branch in Spain, made up of Spanish and Moroccan nationals, is said to have created the businesses used to import containers from South America, giving the operation a veneer of legitimacy.

A second branch based in Ecuador, mainly operating through the Port of Guayaquil, organised the concealment of cocaine inside containers before they were shipped to Spain.

The third branch, based in Dubai, was reportedly controlled by Albanian investors who funnelled large sums of money into the Spanish companies, financing both the businesses and the drug trafficking operation.

The first phase of the operation took place in Ecuador in March 2025, when authorities carried out 50 raids and arrested 35 suspects, with officers from the Guardia Civil’s elite Central Operational Unit (UCO) assisting local police.

In Spain, officers carried out searches and arrests in La Rioja, Alicante, Sevilla and Cadiz, detaining eight suspects and seizing around €1million in cash during raids in Arnedo (La Rioja).

Numerous properties, vehicles and financial assets have also been frozen.

The operation was led by the Guardia Civil’s Central Anti-Drug Group, in cooperation with Ecuadorian police, and coordinated by Europol.

The Spanish investigation was overseen by Spain’s Special Anti-Drug Prosecutor’s Office and the National Court.