A loaded anti-tank rocket launcher seized in Sevilla was set to be used by narcos against police helicopters and patrol boats, it is feared.

The Yugoslav-made M80 launcher and a Zastava M70 assault rifle were recovered during Operation Dictator in Sevilla and neighbouring Dos Hermanas.

According to judicial sources quoted by Malaga Hoy, the launcher posed an additional danger because it was thrown from a car during a police pursuit and could have exploded.

Four detainees were brought before a judge following the investigation, which included searches of four homes across the two municipalities.

Investigators believe the weapons were destined for criminal organisations bringing large drug shipments ashore along the Andalucian coast and through the Guadalquivir river.

The police report identifies the potential threat to helicopters and patrol vessels intercepting those shipments.

The weapons were handed to TEDAX explosives specialists for destruction.

The Zastava M70, often described as the ‘Yugoslav Kalashnikov’, is a military assault rifle, while the M80 was designed as an anti-tank weapon.

Their seizure adds to concerns that trafficking organisations are acquiring increasingly powerful weapons and becoming more willing to confront officers.

Police and Guardia Civil representatives have repeatedly warned about the danger posed by armed gangs protecting shipments and fighting rival organisations.

Recent incidents cited in the report include gunfire directed at police in Sevilla province and attacks on Guardia Civil vessels off Huelva.

The threat was starkly illustrated in February 2024, when two Guardia Civil officers died after a drug boat rammed their vessel in Barbate.

The latest report also points to warnings in the public prosecutor’s annual report, published in September, about increasingly violent and sophisticated trafficking networks.

Prosecutors warned that organised crime was ‘undermining the foundations of social peace’.