Unusual form of cocaine smuggling halted in the Balearics

AFTER sacks containing cocaine were discovered in the sea off of the Island of Formentera, further sacks were found off Menorca and Mallorca which when weighed totalled more than 150 kilos.

Officers of the Guardia Civil realised that they had discovered a new way of smuggling the drugs into the Balearics as each sack contained a GPS transmitter and they realised that the drugs were dropped into the sea from one vessel with the intention that they should be collected by another, but on this occasion at least, something went wrong with the plan.

Officers then established that the drugs were thrown overboard from commercial vessels that sailed on a regular basis from Colombia to Italy via Spain and also that the drugs were eventually transported by ‘mules’ to an apartment in Valencia so that the cocaine could be ‘cut’ and made ready for sale, much of which was returned to Menorca.

After five raids in Valencia and one in Menorca, officers arrested 12 people (eight Colombians, one Ecuadorian, one Paraguayan and two Spaniards) and removed 1.5 kilos of cocaine, various cutting agents, presses, scales, six vehicles and €10,000 in cash.