An investigation by the Narcotics Unit of the National Police in Elche has led to the seizure of over 60 kilos of marijuana hidden in a large truck bound for Europe. The operation culminated in La Jonquera in Girona with the arrest of the driver and the confiscation of both the drugs and the trailer used for transport.
The operation was carried out by agents of the National Police on the AP-7 motorway, as part of an investigation opened by the specialised unit of Elche on the trafficking of marijuana and its departure to different European countries.
Investigation initiated in Elche
The operation stemmed from an ongoing investigation by the Elche Narcotics Unit into an organisation involved in trafficking marijuana and smuggling it out of Spain. As a result of this surveillance and information sharing with other police units, officers were able to locate the vehicle travelling on the AP-7 highway near La Jonquera, one of the main border crossings between Spain and France.
Once the trailer was located, the police stopped it at a rest area to inspect the trailer and check the cargo it was carrying. During the search, they verified that part of the merchandise consisted of second-hand appliances distributed on several pallets, an apparently legal cargo that concealed the drugs.
Hidden among appliances
The inspection revealed four pallets of merchandise in which numerous packages of marijuana were hidden. The agents located the narcotics mixed in with the household appliances to make them harder to detect during transport.
A total of 48 packages were seized, all of them vacuum-sealed, a common system to reduce the smell of the drug and facilitate its transport. The subsequent weighing confirmed that the shipment contained 60 kilograms of marijuana, an amount that, according to the National Police, was destined for the European market.
Arrested and placed at the disposal of the court
Following the discovery, the officers proceeded to impound the vehicle and arrest the driver, accused of an alleged crime against public health.
The arrested man was subsequently brought before a judge, while the investigation continues to clarify the scope of the network dedicated to the international transport of marijuana and to determine if there are more people involved in the organisation.
The National Police emphasise that the operation was made possible thanks to the collaboration between the units in charge of the investigation and the operation deployed in La Jonquera, which prevented the shipment from reaching its destination outside of Spain.
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