Four held after cocaine hidden in timber cargo

Police and customs officers have seized more than 1,700 kilos of cocaine hidden among timber and arrested four men after a controlled delivery from the Port of Valencia led them to a warehouse in Aldaia.

The joint operation involved Guardia Civil anti-drugs officers, the Policía Nacional’s central Udyco unit and Vigilancia Aduanera in Valencia. Investigators say the haul was concealed inside timber consigned in two containers that had arrived at the port from Ecuador two weeks earlier.

Once officers had identified the load as suspicious, a duty judge in Valencia authorised a controlled delivery. That allowed the containers to leave the port under surveillance, be loaded on to lorries and followed to the industrial warehouse where the drugs were being unloaded.

Arrests at the warehouse

Two Spanish men were arrested at the site after they were allegedly involved in unloading the cargo. A Colombian man and an Albanian man were also detained, with investigators saying they were acting as intermediaries for the people behind the shipment.

The cocaine was found inside the wooden cargo itself, rather than in a visible compartment. Officials said the concealment method was especially difficult to detect and had not been seen in this form for years.

The investigation remains open as officers work to identify the wider network behind the shipment.

Second major haul in days

The seizure comes only two days after another large cocaine consignment was intercepted at the same port, in a case in which officers found 2.6 tonnes hidden in coconut cargo from Ghana. CNS reported that operation separately here.

The latest discovery underlines the port’s continuing role as a key entry point for cocaine shipments bound for Spain and the rest of Europe.