Spain Regains Its Position as the Cocaine Gateway to Europe

The seizure of a record 13 tonnes of cocaine in Spain in mid-October is further evidence that the country has become the main entry point for drugs into Europe after Belgium and the Netherlands significantly increased security at their ports.

National Police and Customs Surveillance Service captured Cocaine in a container shipped from Ecuador was seized at the port of Algeciras in the southern Spanish province of Cadiz.

This is the largest seizure in Spanish history, exceeding 9.5 tonnes. captured In Algeciras in August 2023. The investigation into the seizure remains open. El País newspaper reported.

“A large amount of cocaine was seized in the port of Algeciras, but also a lot of cocaine is passing through there,” Miguel Angel Ramos, secretary general of the Unified Civil Guard (AUGC) in Cadiz, told InSight Crime. “It is known that there are containers like this weighing up to 13 tons, 3,000 (kilograms), 4,000, 5,000…”

SEE ALSO:Spain: European Base of Latin American Organized Crime

For decades, Spain has been a base of operations for Latin American crime groups in Europe, thanks to its cultural and linguistic proximity and the connections Colombian drug traffickers established with Spanish smuggling networks in the 1980s.

While it has never ceased to be an important entry point, the decline in seizures since 2018 has seen this route lost its importance compared to the continent’s larger ports: Antwerp in Belgium and Rotterdam in the Netherlands.

This was the case until 2023, when overproduction of cocaine in South America reached a record level. seizures Across Europe, Spain was once again the European country with the highest volume of seizures.

In total, 142 tons of drugs were seized that year; In contrast, 121 tons of drugs were seized by Belgian authorities and 60 tons of drugs were seized by Dutch authorities.

Seizures occurred in Antwerp and Rotterdam in the first months of 2024 dropped significantly As a result of increased attention and adaptation of drug trafficking networks looking for new routes. But Spain continues to record record seizures.

InSight Crime analysis

The pressure exerted by law enforcement on the ports of Antwerp and Rotterdam has probably forced smugglers to seek new routes. Spain has strongly repositioned itself as the primary entry point into Europe due to its position as the epicenter of Latin American organized crime in the region.

Spain offers a number of attractive features to drug traffickers looking for efficient routes and methods of transportation across the Atlantic. Sailboats, high-volume containers, as well as semi-submarines, aircraft and boats arrive in Spanish waters and the mainland, which serves as a connecting point between Latin America, Africa and Europe.

“Narcos are constantly reinventing themselves,” Ramos told InSight Crime, referring to both domestic and Latin American networks. “They saw the easy point of access.”

In the 1980s, Spain became the epicenter of Latin American organized crime in Europe when the Medellín and Cali cartels realized the potential of Galicia’s coastline in the northwestern peninsula and the infrastructure of Galician smuggling networks to bring cocaine into the country.

SEE ALSO:Southern Spain Sees Wave of Drug Trafficking

Beginning in the 2000s, Colombians continued to establish financial centers and expand their operations throughout the peninsula, as well as networks of hitmen dedicated to collecting debts related to drug trafficking.

This infrastructure and connections between Latin American suppliers, transporters and distributors have persisted and are evolving with the emergence of new competitors, particularly European criminal groups.

“They already have networks here. First of all, the bosses are in the Costa del Sol,” Ramos said, referring to both Latin American and European organizations.

Large-scale cocaine shipments are often the result of cooperation between these increasingly global networks. In August 2023, Spanish authorities determined that up to 30 different entities were involved in the 9.5-ton shipment in the port of Algeciras. Cocaine was to be distributed throughout Europe.

Some European networks with a presence in Spain are also established in important Latin American countries and thus control the departure and arrival of shipments.

In a police operation between Ecuador and Spain in February 2024, 31 people alleged to be members of an organization were captured. transnational drug trafficking network Led by Albanian nationals Dritan Gjikais based in Guayaquil, Ecuador, and its Italian-Argentinian partner, Mario Sanchez Rinaldi, is headquartered in Marbella on Spain’s Costa del Sol.

Featured Image: A cargo ship in the Port of Algeciras. Credit: Algeciras Bay Port Authority.