A network of officials are feared to be secretly working for drug trafficking gangs at Andalucia’s leading container port.

The potential existence of the moles has been uncovered by an internal affairs investigation being conducted by the Policia Nacional.

The probe is looking into Oscar Sanchez Gil, the former head of the UDEF economic crime unit in Madrid, who remains in prison after more than €20million was allegedly found hidden in the walls of his home.

According to El Diario, an analysis of encrypted messages has suggested there is ‘another corruption network’ involving officials connected to Algeciras, one of Europe’s most important container ports.

The extraordinary development stems from information provided by Sanchez Gil himself, who has been in prison since November 2025.

He told a judge on May 19 that investigators had failed to properly analyse an encrypted phone which he claimed contained references to officials involved in bringing drugs through Algeciras.

According to the report, preliminary analysis revealed a potential corruption plot connected to a user identified by the PIN T8CKH6 on the encrypted Sky ECC communications network.

Sky ECC was infiltrated by European law enforcement agencies and has provided investigators with a vast cache of communications linked to organised crime.

Among the conversations examined were alleged references to customs, Guardia Civil officers and members of the Risk Analysis Unit – the service tasked with identifying suspicious containers passing through Algeciras.

Investigators also reportedly found figures referring to payments.

However, Internal Affairs cautioned that the material examined so far does not conclusively identify the recipients of the messages.

Sanchez Gil has denied being the person referred to as ‘Aduana’ (‘Customs’) in the encrypted conversations.

He told the judge that the nickname instead referred to other officials with direct links to the Port of Algeciras.

However, Internal Affairs investigators and the UDYCO organised crime unit insist the nickname ‘Aduana’ referred ‘unequivocally’ to Sanchez Gil.

Nevertheless, information provided by the jailed former police chief has apparently opened a new line of inquiry into whether other public officials may also have been involved.

The material reportedly includes possible references to officers connected to OCON-Sur, the now-disbanded Guardia Civil unit created to combat drug trafficking around the Strait of Gibraltar.

€20million allegedly hidden in walls

Sanchez Gil is already at the centre of one of Spain’s most extraordinary alleged police corruption cases.

Investigators accuse the former senior officer of collaborating with a major drug-trafficking organisation while holding a position that gave him access to sensitive police information.

More than €20million in cash was discovered concealed inside walls during the investigation.

According to investigators, Sanchez Gil entered container details into police databases to make it appear that they were subject to his own investigations.

The alleged technique could then provide advance warning of police action and help traffickers avoid the interception of cocaine shipments.

The organisation has been linked by investigators to Alejandro Salgado, alias ‘El Tigre’, who has been described by Spanish police and Europol as one of Spain’s most wanted drug traffickers.

Salgado is accused of directing his network from Dubai and remains at large.

Spain’s record 13-tonne cocaine haul

Algeciras was also the scene of a record-breaking seizure in 2024, when authorities discovered 13 tonnes of cocaine – the largest cocaine haul ever seized in Spain.

The shipment was attributed by investigators to Salgado’s organisation.

The latest Internal Affairs findings potentially widen the corruption investigation beyond Sanchez Gil, although the existence and membership of any broader network have not yet been established.

Sources from Spain’s Anti-Drug Prosecutor’s Office told elDiario.es that prosecutors had not yet analysed the Internal Affairs report to decide whether to open a separate investigation into the new allegations.

Read more Andalucia news at the Spanish Eye.