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Seven defendants have admitted their part in a cocaine-smuggling network that hid drugs in banana containers, including two shipments that arrived at Algeciras port in October 2023.
The men acknowledged the facts in the Madrid Provincial Court after reaching an agreement with prosecutors and the other parties, according to the court record. The case centres on a scheme that used fruit imports from South America to give the drugs cover as they entered Spain.
Investigators say the operation led to the seizure of 171.8 kilos of cocaine in total, with an estimated street value of more than €8.35 million. Two of the three consignments documented in the inquiry were intercepted at Algeciras, where officers found 76.1 kilos between them.
The first Algeciras shipment was discovered during the inspection of a banana container from Peru. Officers found 55 packages of cocaine hidden inside the structure of the container. A day later, a third container arrived at the port and investigators uncovered another 41 packets containing 47.1 kilos, this time concealed in the space reserved for the air-conditioning system.
Both consignments were later followed under controlled delivery measures to a warehouse in Palau-solità i Plegamans, in the Barcelona area, where officers say the drugs were meant to be removed. In one of the handovers, police caught several of the defendants as they were preparing to unload the cocaine using tools they had brought to the site.
How the network allegedly operated
The inquiry began in early 2023 after Guardia Civil officers at Madrid-Barajas airport became aware of fruit consignments from South America entering Spain via Rotterdam and heading for Madrid. Early inspections uncovered manipulated fruit boxes and double bottoms designed to hide narcotics.
From that point, the Guardia Civil and the Policía Nacional’s UDYCO group in Madrid worked together to identify the people involved and document the three shipments. Officers say the network used an apparently legitimate business structure to make the imports look routine.
According to the prosecution file, companies linked to the operation were used to bring the fruit into Spain and to move the containers on to their destination. One firm acted as importer, another handled paperwork, and a third helped market the bananas through Mercamadrid.
Police detained the seven suspects between 19 and 21 October 2023. Searches at their homes and at a business office in Parla turned up cash, mobile phones, computers, invoices and other paperwork relating to the imports and the containers.
The prosecution had initially sought 13 years in prison for each defendant, plus a €15 million fine, for public health offences and membership of a criminal group. Under the agreement reached in court, the sentences were reduced to seven years and six months for the drug offence and another six months for belonging to a criminal organisation.
In some cases, the court also agreed that defendants would be expelled from Spain after serving part of their sentences.
Algeciras port has featured repeatedly in recent drug-trafficking cases, with investigators continuing to target the routes used by organised networks to move cocaine into and through southern Spain. CNS has previously reported on a separate Algeciras cocaine investigation linked to port workers and multiple seizures.
The court case is separate from that earlier probe, but it underlines how often the port features in the logistics of larger trafficking operations moving drugs towards mainland distribution hubs.
