Cross-border probes draw blank in search for drones disrupting Gibraltar flights 

By Brian Reyes and Maria Jesus Corrales 

Investigations by law enforcement agencies on both sides of the border into unauthorised drones that disrupted flights at Gibraltar airport this year have so far proved fruitless, the Royal Gibraltar Police has acknowledged. 

Authorities on both sides of the border launched investigations after drones spotted near Gibraltar’s runway caused disruption to flights on several occasions this year. 

Commercial flights departing from the Rock were delayed on two consecutive days last November and an RAF flight heading to the Rock had to be diverted to Portugal as a safety precaution after drones were sighted near the runway. 

The incidents, which appear to involve drones on the Spanish side of the border, have become increasingly common and follow several similar sightings earlier this year. 

In October, two easyJet flights were delayed leaving Gibraltar after drones were spotted near the runway, and flights were disrupted on two separate occasions last January for the same reason.    

A spokesperson for the Royal Gibraltar Police said Response Team officers responded to reports of drone sightings last November, but that investigations had so far drawn a blank. 

“[The drones] were not sighted on arrival at scene,” the spokesperson said.  

“The origin of the drones or the location of the operator could not be determined, and liaison with cross-border partners failed to identify the origin of the drones.” 

The RGP said it had also investigated the drone sightings in January but again said “liaison with cross-border counterparts failed to identify the origin of the drone.” 

The drones impacting Gibraltar airport are believed to be linked to smuggling activity in neighbouring Spain. 

Last week, the Gibraltar Chronicle revealed that a specialist anti-drone Guardia Civil unit known as Pegaso [Policía Especialista en Gestión Aeronáutica y de Seguridad Operacional) was investigating the November incidents.  

A Guardia Civil spokesperson in the Algeciras headquarters told the Chronicle at the time that “the Pegaso team is aware and the matter is under investigation”, adding no further detail.  

The Pegaso teams are “air police” units created by the Guardia Civil in 2016 with the sole aim of addressing new airspace threats to public safety in Spain, whether for criminal or terrorist purposes.  

Given the increased general use of drones by the wider population, the Pegaso unit has been tasked with the prevention and control of incidents related to this type of device in Spain.   

Among other resources, they are equipped with a “Global Counter-Drone System” capable of detecting, identifying and neutralising unauthorised unmanned aircraft.  

Last weekend, Campo newspaper Europa Sur cited Spanish law enforcement sources saying that while the use of drones by smugglers was “nothing new”, the frequency of incidents over the past year had “rung alarm bells”. 

Drones are “cheap, efficient and particularly difficult to trace”, a law enforcement source in Spain said. 

The newspaper quoted another source saying that drones were being increasingly employed by tobacco smuggling gangs, claiming the unmanned aircraft were being used to carry cigarettes from Gibraltar into Spain, rather than simply for surveillance. 

Sources in Gibraltar consulted by this newspaper cast doubt on the claim that drones were being used to ferry tobacco, and even one Spanish law enforcement source seemed sceptical, adding “you can’t carry much with a drone”. 

But the issue is being taken “very seriously” given the disruption to Gibraltar airport and the potential safety risk presented by unauthorised drone activity. 

Authorities both here and in Spain have so far been reluctant to comment openly for fear of undermining ongoing investigations and cross-border liaison. 

“The RGP liaises regularly with several Spanish agencies at a strategic and operational level, on a range of issues that include counterterrorism, serious and organised crime, and other cross-border policing issues such as drone activity,” the RGP spokesperson said.  

“However, the RGP will not comment further on any ongoing intelligence sharing or specific investigations or operations.” 

On the Spanish side of the border, there is hard evidence of drones by used for illicit purposes linked to drug trafficking across the Strait of Gibraltar. 

In November, the Guardia Civil said it had broken up a drug trafficking organisation that transported cannabis resin across the Strait of Gibraltar using fixed-wing drones.  

Nine people were arrested in the operation and eighteen drones seized, ten of which were undergoing modification in a workshop.  

The operation was carried out in cooperation with Morocco’s Royal Gendarmerie and coordinated by Europol, with the people arrested being mostly east European nationals from areas currently affected by armed conflict, and who had extensive technical knowledge in handling and modifying unmanned aircraft. 

“The use of drones in the area by organisations for smuggling and drug trafficking is not something new,” a source in Spain’s Agencia Tributaria, the Spanish Customs agency, told the Chronicle.  

“There are occasional small-scale cases, but in any case it is a phenomenon we are analysing and we are assessing possible strategies to follow.” 

“We cannot say any more for the moment, only that strategies are being considered jointly with the different bodies involved in existing coordination forums on air security.” 

And while the suspicion is that the drones disrupting Gibraltar airport are likely linked to smuggling, the incidents come against international concern about drone activity near airports and military bases, including some used by US forces in the UK.   

Other countries across the EU have also experienced disruption near airports, with speculation Russia could be behind some of the incidents elsewhere in Europe.   

The Ministry of Defence, which operates the runway in Gibraltar, told the Chronicle last week that safety was its top priority. 

“RAF Gibraltar takes passenger safety extremely seriously and, in coordination with flight operators, will make changes to flight details as necessary should any risk to passenger safety be identified,” a spokesperson for British Forces Gibraltar said at the time.  

“The MoD continues to work with the Gibraltar authorities and the Royal Gibraltar Police to investigate illegal drone operators and ensure drone usage in Gibraltar is both safe and legal.”  

A spokesperson for No.6 Convent Place said the Gibraltar Government was “taking steps to prevent this type of interference with aircraft operations” but would not be drawn on further detail. 

Last week in London, Dr John Cortes, the Minister for Environment and Education, stood in for Chief Minister Fabian Picardo and discussed the drone disruption at Gibraltar airport with the Minister of State at the Ministry of Defence, Lord Coaker.