3 Arrested in 50 kg Cocaine Seizure at Algeciras

FTZ News:  2 men dressed as port workers boarded a container ship at Algeciras and tried to remove two backpacks from a container. Spanish customs seized 50 kg of cocaine. A third man waited on a jet ski.

Ports Europe reported Oct. 10 that the men had already taken the backpacks out of the container when officers closed in. They hid the bags after spotting the officers. The jet ski had been stolen hours earlier in La Línea de la Concepción.

Guardia Civil officers saw the watercraft near the ship while cargo operations were under way. Officers from the Risk Analysis Unit, which combines Customs Surveillance officials from the Tax Agency and Guardia Civil personnel, stopped the two men on the vessel. A Civil Guard boat from the Provincial Maritime Service intercepted the third man on the jet ski.

The backpacks contained 50 packages that lab tests confirmed weighed 50 kg in total. The Tax Agency said the street value exceeded €1.5 million. A court ordered the three suspects held in custody./.