High-speed drones capable of carrying up to twenty kilos of hashish cross the Strait of Gibraltar from Morocco to Spain. The National Police dismantles a network that used unmanned aerial vehicles to fuel drug trafficking to France.
Criminal organizations have found a new system to transport drugs from Morocco to Spain: drones capable of crossing the Strait of Gibraltar in a few minutes. These aircraft can load smaller quantities than boats, but allow faster, more discreet and safer deliveries, above all reducing the exposure of traffickers to law enforcement checks. A method that confirms the ability of criminal networks to adapt to new technologies and quickly change their operational strategies. There Spanish National Police recently seized a fixed-wing drone capable of carrying around twenty kilos of hashish. The device could overcome the 100 kilometers per hour and was equipped with four rotors, long-range radio controls and a carbon fiber compartment. A system driven by a servomotor also allowed the load to be released during flight. A particularly useful feature for traffickers, because it allowed deliveries to be made without necessarily landing the aircraft in the place where the drugs needed to be recovered.
As he writes El Paísthe investigation of the Anti-Drug and Organized Crime Unit of Algecirasa city in the province of Cadiz, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, began in 2025. Investigators had discovered that some traffickers were introducing drugs into Spain using unmanned aerial vehicles. The drone used by the gang had no identification plates or other elements that would allow us to trace its origin. A measure which, according to investigators, made it more complicated to identify owners, suppliers and people involved in the purchase of the device. During the investigation, the different roles within the organization emerged. Some members were responsible for surveillance and custody of the drugs, while others planned the transfer of the drugs to northern Spain. The goods were also transported in cars equipped with double bottoms, directed mainly to Vitoria, where the network could count on trusted people. The system therefore combined traditional methods and new technologies: once the drone crossed the Strait, the drugs were inserted into the land logistics network and transferred to other regions.
The May 12th one of the gang members was arrested in Malpartida de Plasenciawhile traveling towards the province of Álava. 19.9 kilos of hashish and 1.4 kilos of cocaine were found in the hidden compartment of his car. For that trip he would have received 2,500 euros. From the intercepted conversations it also emerged that the organization had the fast inflatable boats normally used for drug trafficking. Its members periodically entered Morocco through the Tarajal crossingon the border with Ceuta. The simultaneous availability of inflatable boats, modified cars and drones demonstrates the operational flexibility of the network. The use of unmanned aircraft would therefore not completely replace traditional maritime routes, but represented an alternative to be used depending on the needs and level of controls. Drones also have a clear advantage for criminal organizations: in the event of the vehicle being intercepted, there are no drivers or crews to arrest immediately. The human risk for the gang is thus drastically reduced to zero. The final destination of the drugs were not the Basque Countrybut the Francewhere the sale of hashish would have guaranteed greater profits. The Spanish territory therefore represented above all a transit platform within a network capable of operating in multiple countries. After entering from the southern coast, the drugs were moved hundreds of kilometers north before crossing a border again.
To avoid seizure, the drone he was frequently moved in a van. For a certain period it had also been hidden in a storage room Puerto Banúsnear Marbella. The possibility of dismantling, transporting and concealing devices of this type represents a further difficulty for the security forces, called upon to identify instruments which, far from the moment of flight, can be hidden in normal garages, warehouses or vehicles. At the end of May, the National Police launched an operation to dismantle the criminal network. The aircraft was found in the garage of one of those arrested Algeciras. One of the suspects managed to escape, but batteries compatible with those of the drone were recovered in his home. The authorities have issued an international arrest warrant for him for criminal association and crimes against public health. The investigation shows how the organizations of drug trafficking are adopting increasingly sophisticated technologies. The phenomenon presents Spanish authorities with a new challenge: to control not only sea and land routes, but also low-altitude airspace along one of Europe’s most sensitive borders. Thanks to dronesin fact, a load of drugs can reach the Spain from the Morocco in less than an hour, avoiding some of the controls that in recent years have made transport by boats more risky. The quantity transported in each single trip is smaller, but the speed, the possibility of carrying out numerous flights and the lower exposure of the organization’s men can more than compensate for this limit. It is the signal of a transformation of drug trafficking in Strait of Gibraltarwhere a new technological frontier is being added to the traditional challenge between traffickers’ motorboats and law enforcement vehicles.
