• The drugs had left the port in a truck bound for an industrial warehouse in Estepona, where the shipment was finally seized.

• Five people arrested for their alleged responsibility in a crime against public health and another for belonging to a criminal organization

November 4, 2024.- The Customs Surveillance Service of the Tax Agency, in a joint operation with the National Police, has seized 675 kilos of cocaine hidden in a shipment of pineapples in Estepona (Málaga). The drugs had arrived by truck at an industrial warehouse in the Malaga town after arriving at the port of Malaga in a maritime container from Colombia. Investigators have arrested five people for their alleged responsibility in a crime against public health and another for belonging to a criminal organization. The Examining Magistrate's Court No. 2 of Estepona has ordered the provisional imprisonment of all those under investigation.

Operation “Carpo”, carried out jointly by the Combined Customs Surveillance Unit of Malaga and agents assigned to Group I of Narcotics of the UDYCO-Costa del Sol, as well as their counterparts from the Marbella Police Station, was initiated following information indicating the activity of a company that would be dedicated to importing cocaine camouflaged inside fruit containers, a merchandise that would leave the port of Manzanillo, in Colombia.

With the close collaboration of Colombian police authorities, the agents were informed of the imminent arrival at the port of Malaga of containers suspected of containing the drug.

Controlled delivery

At this point in the police investigation, authorization was requested from the Anti-Drug Prosecutor's Office of Malaga, which allowed the controlled delivery of the containers under suspicion.

Thus, Customs Surveillance agents from the Tax Agency and the National Police carried out a follow-up of a truck that left the port of Malaga with the merchandise from Colombia, heading to an industrial estate in Estepona.

In a raid with more than 30 officers, the agents entered an industrial warehouse and arrested five members of a network dedicated to drug trafficking. Among those arrested are three Spanish citizens, one British citizen and one Colombian citizen, who shared different roles within the organisation.

The suspects were arrested red-handed as they were preparing to extract the narcotic substance from a shipment of pineapples: 585 packages of cocaine weighing approximately one kilogram, for a total gross weight of 675 kilos.

Finally, the operation ended with the seizure of cocaine, a van and five mobile phones.