Four cops arrested in Spanish drug trafficking bust

Four policemen were arrested in Spain for their suspected roles in a drug trafficking ring that used high-speed inflatable boats to smuggle hashish into the country, authorities said Wednesday.

The four Guardia Civil officers in the southwestern town of Isla Mayor — half of the force’s total contingent of eight officers in the town of around 6,000 residents near Seville — were arrested on Monday along with two other suspects, police said in a statement.

They are suspected of belonging to a gang that operated on the Guadalquivir river on Andalusia’s Atlantic coast, bringing in hashish across the Strait of Gibraltar from Morocco.

The area is favoured by drug smugglers because it is marshy, offering numerous hiding places. Top-selling daily newspaper El Pais has called the Guadalquivir the “river of drugs”.

Juan Molero, mayor of Isla Mayor, said residents were shocked by the arrest of half of the town’s Guardia Civil force.

“That four Guardia Civil agents are implicated in a town that only has eight agents really draws attention,” he told news radio Cadena Ser.

The six suspects face charges of drug trafficking, membership of a criminal organisation, bribery and dereliction of duty.

Police seized 50 bales of hashish as part of the operation as well as several vehicles, including some which had been stolen, jet skis and pneumatic speed boats.

Spain’s proximity to Morocco, one of the world’s principal producers of hashish, has made it the main entry point of the drug into Europe.

Spanish police seized around 100 tonnes of hashish in 2015, the bulk of it in Andalucia.