CASTILLA y LEON – Three people have been arrested after over 860 kilos of cocaine seized in Castile and Leon region.
The cocaine was disguised by using an unusual chemical process which made it odourless and also changed its colour to black. The size was like charcoal, which is how they planned to distribute
Police became suspicious
Spanish and Portuguese police launched an investigation as it had noted the company as being of interest. It had several fronts allowing them to carry out imports. However, the police became suspicious when it didn´t seem to add up with their business model.
The owner of the business was found to be a known drug trafficker from the Basque country.
Black cocaine mixed with sacks of charcoal
The gang mixed 30 sacks of the black cocaine along side over 1000 other sacks containing charcoal to make the shipment look authentic. As the police looked on, the sacks were loaded onto two different containers at a port in Portugal.
Cocaine seized
The containers were tracked by the two police forces to the gang´s base in an industrial estate in northern Spain. The police operation waited until the trucks arrived, and then they moved in to make the arrests and seize the cocaine.
“This operation is of great relevance for the Security Forces and Bodies, not only because of the arrest of a historic drug trafficker but also because it is one of the largest amount of cocaine seized recorded in Castilla y León,” the police said. It also exposed a new way for gangs to disguise cocaine shipments.
