Eleven people have been arrested for allegedly introducing 510 kilos of cocaine into Spain from Colombia.
The police operation began a year ago. The drugs came from Cali, Colombia, and were concealed in a legal shipment of bovine hides. The drugs were in 2,600 flexible packages of 150 to 200 grams of cocaine and were fully integrated into the skins and very difficult to detect, even using dogs.
The ship docked in Valencia and the drugs were transferred to a warehouse on the Cabezo Beaza industrial estate in Cartagena. The warehouse was raided just as the traffickers were preparing to extract the drugs.
Simultaneous raids were carried out in Baza (Granada) and Olula del Rio (Almeria) and eleven people were arrested, seven Spaniards and four Colombians. All the detainees had multiple prior arrests for drug trafficking.
The detainees have been remanded in custody.