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Underwater Drone (2019)
Photo: Patrick Pleul / picture alliance / dpa
It is a well-known fact that when it comes to transporting illegal intoxicants, there are no limits to the imagination of drug dealers.
Now, for the first time, Spanish police have confiscated underwater drones used on the smuggling route between Morocco and Spain.
As the police announced on Monday, a gang of eight drug dealers was caught during the operation.
The suspects are said to have transported drugs to Barcelona, Málaga and Cádiz with the six confiscated underwater drones.
Police said it was the first time such drones had been confiscated.
The drug dealers allegedly made drones that could carry "big loads" for other criminal organizations.
In this way, large quantities of drugs could be transported across the Strait of Gibraltar.
The drones were each equipped with twelve engines and had a range of 30 kilometers.
The Strait of Gibraltar that separates Spain from Morocco is only 15 kilometers wide.
The gang's clients apparently included dealers in Denmark, France, Italy and Spain.
Spain's proximity to Morocco, a major marijuana producer, and its close ties to former cocaine-producing colonies in Latin America have meant the country has become a major drug gateway into Europe.
In the summer of 2021, drug investigators in Málaga, Andalusia, had already confiscated a drone with a wingspan of four and a half meters.
The missile was capable of transporting up to 150 kilograms of drugs and staying in the air for seven hours.
ala/AFP