Andrés Machado Algeciras

Algeciras

Updated Monday, February 12, 2024-13:39

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Since last week, Customs Surveillance members of the Tax Agency were working on an operation that was uncovered in the port of

Algeciras

and that had allowed the intervention of 8,000 kilos of cocaine. Today the deputy director of this body, Ángel Delgado, has offered more details of one of the most relevant actions that have taken place in recent times in Spain. At the moment there is one person detained, the one who was supposed to receive the merchandise, and two more are being investigated. It is not ruled out that in the next few hours they will also be arrested and that there may even be more people involved.

The curious thing about the action is that the container, which was

in transit on Algeciras soil

, came from the port of Paramaribo in

Suriname

. It is the first time that an intervention has been carried out in this country by Spain. In addition, the route chosen by the organization has also attracted the attention of researchers. The ship left that area of ​​the northern South American coast, transporting a fake generator, stopped in Panama and from there arrived in Algeciras. The port of destination, however, was

Leixoes

, in Portugal and later, by road, the drug was going to be introduced into Europe.

According to Delgado, "this is one of the aspects that has drawn attention since they have chosen that route to make the detection of illicit cargo difficult." The other unusual detail is that the narcotic substance, distributed in 7,000 pills or bales, was housed in a metal structure designed and built to measure to fit inside the container and try to overcome the scanner's control. A fact that did not occur when

the inspection was carried out in Algeciras.

To try to circumvent this measure, the organization had used an alloy, never seen before, to dissipate the merchandise.

Delgado explained that there is a significant increase in cocaine transit from South America, mainly due to the high demand in Europe. "We are redoubling efforts in the Customs Surveillance service in areas such as the Strait. He explained that only Valencia and Galicia have more agents.

It serves as an example that in 2023,

90 tons of what is known as white powder

were intercepted , which was double that of a year before and in the current year, in just over a month, there are already 14 tons of cocaine that have been located by the Customs officers.