• Two people have been arrested after being caught removing cocaine from a container in an industrial estate in the Barcelona town of Els Mojons

• The pineapples contained in the container have been donated to a food bank in Valencia

February 10, 2025.- Officials from the Customs Surveillance Service of the Tax Agency and the Organized Crime and Anti-Drug Team of the Civil Guard, in a joint operation, have seized 304 kilos of cocaine hidden in a container that arrived at the port of Valencia and the arrest of two people in the municipality of Els Mojons (Barcelona) when they were trying to extract the drug.

The operation took place on January 3 in the Barcelona town of Els Mojons, following an analysis of a suspicious shipment originating in Panama, unloaded at one of the container terminals in the port of Valencia. Following preliminary checks, it was concluded that cocaine was possibly hidden inside the container.

Thus, on January 3, after the container left the port of Valencia, agents from both bodies began monitoring it until it reached its destination, an industrial estate in the aforementioned Barcelona town. The vehicle entered a warehouse and the agents surprised the two individuals inside as they were preparing to manipulate the container to extract the drugs.

In addition to the 304 kilos of cocaine, numerous instruments were found to remove the cocaine packages and repair the container. The quick action of the agents prevented the recovery of the drugs that were hidden in its structure.

One of the "modus operandi" of organisations dedicated to drug trafficking in large quantities through maritime traffic is the use of double bottoms where they introduce cocaine, avoiding the risk of being detected during a routine inspection, a method of concealment frequently used for the introduction of cocaine into Spain from South America.

In this type of operation, in order for the organization to safely extract the cocaine, specific tools and a place to manipulate the structure of the contaminated container are needed. Later, once the cocaine has been extracted, the organization repairs it so as not to raise suspicions.

Finally, since the merchandise declared at Customs, a significant quantity of pineapples, was legally traded and suitable for consumption, after judicial authorization it was ordered to be transferred and donated to the Valencia Food Bank.