This is the dramatic moment a police helicopter was filmed scouring an apartment block in Marbella on Tuesday night.

Footage shared by Marbellasequeja shows the chopper shining its torch on a building in the Las Albarizas neighbourhood.

It was not clear who the authorities were looking for at the time of reporting.

The Spanish Eye has contacted the Policia Nacional for comment.

Locals online reported witnessing the scenes from their balconies and windows.

‘They’ve left me blind out on my balcony, a guy can’t even enjoy a whisky in peace,’ one wrote.

Another quipped: ‘There I was, totally relaxed on my balcony watching the chase, and I thought they were coming for my neighbour who sleeps all day and parties all night.’

Narco tunnels

The dramatic scenes come less than five months after police uncovered a hidden network of underground ‘narco tunnels’ beneath Las Albarizas during a major anti-drugs operation.

The raids targeted an alleged family-run network accused of selling cocaine, hashish and marijuana from multiple homes inside the same apartment block.

Police said the operation was made particularly difficult by a maze of subterranean passageways linking properties and providing escape routes throughout the neighbourhood.

The tunnels were allegedly used to move and conceal drugs, as well as helping suspects evade officers during raids.

Eight people were arrested during the second phase of the operation, when police simultaneously searched five homes with the support of riot officers, dog units, aerial resources and specialist underground teams.

An earlier phase at the beginning of the year had already led to three arrests, taking the overall number detained to 11.

Officers seized 133 grams of hashish, 111 grams of marijuana, cocaine, pink cocaine known as tusi, knives and more than €2,400 in cash.

Investigators said the alleged clan operated with a tightly controlled structure, placing lookouts on balconies and in nearby streets to monitor police movements and warn dealers when officers approached.

Drugs were allegedly moved constantly between apartments to frustrate searches, while sellers were frequently rotated and often did not live in the homes being used as dealing points.

Police issued more than 40 drug-seizure reports during the surveillance stage of the investigation.

One woman allegedly changed clothes several times each day in an attempt to avoid detection while transporting drugs and receiving customers.

Authorities described the tunnels as part of a wider criminal infrastructure in Las Albarizas involving occupied homes, drug dens and multiple escape routes.

There is currently no indication that Tuesday night’s helicopter operation was connected to the tunnel network or the earlier drugs raids.