Eight dockworkers are among 18 people arrested after the Guardia Civil dismantled a cocaine trafficking ring operating out of Algeciras port.

As part of Operation Uroboros, officers searched nine properties in Algeciras, La Linea de la Concepcion and Puente Mayorga, San Roque.

The group was linked to at least four cocaine seizures, totalling around 139kg.

At a home linked to the suspected ringleader, investigators found a further 12kg of cocaine, €457,020 in cash, two handguns, ammunition and a bulletproof vest.

Another search uncovered a frequency detector typically used to identify police tracking devices. Two vehicles linked to the suspects were also seized.

Investigators described a stable, hierarchical organisation with clearly divided responsibilities.

One branch retrieved drugs inside the port, while another handled logistics, surveillance and efforts to detect police monitoring.

The eight dockworkers’ authorised access to the container terminal and knowledge of cargo movements helped the group retrieve shipments while reducing the risk of detection, police said.

The Guardia Civil contrasted this with previous cases involving outsiders who entered terminals covertly while posing as port workers.

Police said the network used the so-called ‘rip-on/rip-off’ method, concealing cocaine among legitimate goods in containers arriving from South America.

The drugs were then removed in Algeciras before the containers continued to their final destinations.

According to investigators, this method can exploit shipments without the legitimate exporter or importer knowing drugs have been added.

Six of those arrested have been remanded in custody without bail.

Read more Andalucia news at the Spanish Eye.