Drug dealers in Malaga have been caught using tourist flat key boxes as secret drop-off points for cannabis.
The Policia Nacional uncovered the system after residents complained about people openly smoking drugs in the city centre.
Officers initially struggled to identify where the cannabis was coming from because there was no obvious dealing point or typical movement of buyers and sellers.
It was soon observed how people approached the small combination lockboxes, spent a few seconds opening them before leaving and smoking cannabis nearby.
The activity was detected in areas including Soho, the historic centre and around Plaza Uncibay.
Police eventually focused their attention on a 25-year-old man who was repeatedly seen approaching the boxes in Soho, between the Alameda Principal and the port.
Surveillance officers then watched him open one of the boxes and place a heat-sealed packet of marijuana inside before walking away.
Minutes later, another person arrived, entered the combination, removed the cannabis and left €30 inside as payment.
Police followed the buyer, who confirmed what had happened and helped officers identify other boxes allegedly being used by the network.
Investigators ultimately discovered seven lockboxes believed to have been used for cannabis sales.
The drugs were packaged in heat-sealed bags designed to minimise their smell, containing between five and nine grams of cannabis and selling for €30 each.
Police believe buyers arranged purchases through messaging apps before being sent the location of a box and the combination needed to open it.
The system meant the dealer and customer never needed to meet, making transactions harder for police to detect.
One investigator told Malaga Hoy that officers were familiar with criminals using other types of dead-drop systems but had never previously encountered tourist apartment key boxes being used in this way.
The 25-year-old suspected of acting as the operation’s courier, or mula, was arrested.
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