Spanish police intercepted three underwater drones built to smuggle drugs by sea from Morocco.
The unmanned capsules are apparently capable of carrying up to 200 kilograms of cargo.
Eight people were arrested in the cities of Cádiz, Malaga and Barcelona as part of a 14-month investigation.
Police said the operation dispersed a gang suspected of making vehicles and supplying them to drug dealers in Europe.
Spanish authorities say for the first time they have discovered an underwater vehicle that can be operated without a crew.
“These devices could allow smugglers to transport large volumes of drugs remotely through the Strait of Gibraltar,” police said in a press release. Said.
The Strait of Gibraltar is the strip of sea that separates Morocco from Spain.
One of the submarines was completed and the other two were under construction. The two unfinished capsules are believed to have been handed over to a French cocaine smuggling gang.
Authorities also seized 14kg of marijuana, 8kg of marijuana, more than €157,000 in cash and six large aircraft.
Vehicles equipped with GPS navigation systems can be operated by drug dealers from all over the world using an internet device as simple as a tablet.
Among those arrested were a father and son, who, police said, were qualified helicopter pilots with the technical knowledge needed to build such complex vehicles.
Authorities claimed the gang specialized in building a wide variety of air, land and sea vehicles designed specifically to transport drugs, and accused them of supplying the devices to criminal organizations in Denmark, Italy, France and Spain.
According to the EFE news agency, investigators discovered 13 different types of vehicles, including hidden “double bottom” trailers that can carry up to 800kg of cargo.
It’s not that investigators find vehicles designed to transport drugs underwater.
Earlier this year, a semi-submersible ship carrying four tons of cocaine was intercepted in Colombia on its way to Central America.
Last year in Spain, police seized a 9-metre-long submarine that raided a warehouse in the city of Malaga.
Spain has become a major entry point for drugs into Europe due to its proximity to Morocco, a major cannabis producer, and close ties to former colonies in South America, where most of the world’s cocaine is produced.
The 15 km wide Strait of Gibraltar, which separates Europe from Africa, is one of the preferred routes for drug smuggling.
In April last year, police arrested 100 suspected gang members accused of transporting marijuana on their speedboats in the area.
– This text was originally published at https://www.bbc.com/portuguese/internacional-62049124.
source: Noticias
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