This is the moment the Guardia Civil opened fire against drug traffickers deep in Andalucia’s new drug-trafficking mecca.
Four people were arrested in the operation, which occurred last Saturday along the Guadalquivir River in the province of Sevilla.
According to police, the suspected traffickers opened fire on the officers after being caught taking refuge from severe weather on their semi-rigid boats.
They were taken by surprise in an area known as Brazo de la Torre, within the municipality of Aznalcazar.
The Guardia Civil claimed officers identified themselves before coming under gunfire from one of the boats. The agents responded by firing warning shots.
No officers were hit by bullets, but three members of the elite Rapid Action Group (GAR) suffered minor injuries during the operation and required medical attention.
The raid ended with four suspects in custody and the seizure of two boats, dealing another blow to narco-boat activity in the province.
However, the police union AUGC said the incident showed the Guardia Civil needs more support and protection.
It said in a post on X that shared a clip of the incident: ‘And we still aren’t considered a high-risk profession.
‘Narco speedboats open fire on the Guardia Civil during an operation in Andalucia: 4 arrested and 3 officers injured.
‘While the narcos are armed to the teeth, the Government looks the other way and keeps denying the obvious: we work under real and permanent threat.
‘The safety of Guardia Civil officers can no longer be treated as worthless paper.’
It comes after Andalucia was branded the frontline of Europe’s war on drugs in a recent report by Spain’s Prosecutor General.
The worrying document said the dramatic rise in high-speed narco-boats and clandestine hideouts known as guarderias, aka safe houses, poses an ‘open challenge to the State.’
In the report, the Fiscalia General del Estado stressed that criminal groups are using guarderias not only to store drugs but also to shelter migrants, particularly from Algeria, before transporting them inland.
Narco boats on the Guadalquivir
The report describes with alarm the way high-speed boats – technically banned vessels – now operate well beyond the Strait of Gibraltar, reaching into the coasts of Cadiz, Huelva, Almeria and even up the Guadalquivir river.
Prosecutors warn these boats are increasingly being used not just for hashish but for large cocaine shipments.
The Fiscalia recalls the killing of two Guardia Civil officers in Barbate in February 2024 after being rammed by a narco-boat, as well as multiple fatalities among traffickers themselves.
Between December 2024 and January 2025 alone, authorities intercepted 10 tonnes of cocaine in areas near the Guadalquivir, cementing the river as a new entry route for drugs bound for the rest of Europe.
Surge in cases in Malaga
Judicial procedures for drug trafficking are also on the rise, with Malaga recording a 28.6% increase in 2024 compared with the previous year, according to the latest figures available.
The province now ranks third in Spain – behind only Madrid and Barcelona – for total drug-related proceedings.
Read more Andalucia news at the Spanish Eye.
