Drugs-related offenders increasingly using military-grade weapons, Spanish prosecutors say

The representatives of Fiscalía de Andalucía, Andalucía’s prosecution service, have all expressed “alarm” at the increasing number of military-grade firearms being discovered by police officers when raiding drugs caches. 

The service’s latest report, Memoria de la Fiscalía del Estado which was published last week and covers the year 2025, also highlights a rise in the numbers of people arrested with Balkan or Ukrainian nationalities.  

According to the document, a number of networks have set up in southern Spain, “organised in professional gangs” and “dedicated, in many cases, to vuelcos [the theft of other gangs’ narcotics].”  

Furthermore, these groups have shown little hesitation before using deadly force against their rivals and law enforcement agencies.   

In Cádiz province alone, last year saw 24 prosecutions begun for charges related to gun ownership, while a total of four Kalashnikov AK-47 assault rifles were seized in operations in Jerez and Sanlúcar; one Zastava M70 assault rifle (a derivative of the Kalashnikov), five pistols and two shotguns discovered in Chiclana; and two assault rifles, three sub-machineguns and three pistols taken in Barbate. 

In the province of Almería, the total haul of seized firearms included 78 rifles, some submachine guns and even a rocket launcher. 

A similar story emerges from Coria del Río, Sevilla, where officers were able to seize a number of military-grade firearms that had already been used to fire on police.  

An example cited in the document describes how Policía Nacional officers acted on a request by Portuguese police and became involved in a gun battle in Isla Major, Sevilla, when raiding a premises which they found to contain 4.5 tonnes of cannabis resin. 

Police reports tell of how the five fleeing suspects opened fire with AK-47 assault rifles, seriously wounding one officer who was saved by his protective vest. 

The gunmen, of Spanish nationality, were later arrested in Málaga and Marbella where 70kg of cocaine, a number of pistols, a drone and other equipment were seized. 

ANDALUCÍA A HOT-SPOT

Andalucía is the region where drug-trafficking and related criminality is most visible, the report says, with high-speed RHIBS operating in the area of the Strait but also expanding their operations “increasingly into provinces such as Huelva, Almería and Málaga.” 

The gangsters’ violence and disregard for the law is “more apparent every day” it continues, with police increasingly dealing with crises where offenders use extreme measures and bring about fatalities, such as the killing of a Portuguese police officer who died last October 28when a drug-smuggling speedboat rammed into him, and injured three others, during cross-border smuggling activities linked to the Guadiana river basin. 

Spain’s top prosecutor, Teresa Peramato, highlighted how drug-trafficking continues to be one of the main threats to society due to its growing economic strength, sophistication and internationalization.  

Mrs Peramato also pointed out how these criminal acts take on a “special intensity” in areas such as the Campo de Gibraltar, where the smuggling gangs offer “extraordinary challenges” for law enforcement and government authorities, which can lead to death in the line of duty as it did in Barbate in 2024 and Huelva this year.  

In response, she said it was essential to identify and map out the financial networks that launder the proceeds of crime and provide resources to the smugglers, cutting out the foundations of this hidden trade and, thus, prevent its growth.