Strait increasingly vulnerable to drug smuggling, Spanish security report says 

By Maria Jesus Corrales

A report on Spain’s campaign against the illegal trade in narcotics has described the zone stretching from Cádiz to Málaga as one of “increasing vulnerability” to the narcotics trade, with as many as 600 drugs launches plying the Strait last year. 

Published last week by Spain’s security services, the document comes at a turbulent time for Andalucía as it nears the end of the regional elections campaign cycle and the nation comes to terms with the deaths of two on-duty Guardia Civil officers. 

Formulated by the country’s department of national security, the Informe Anual de Seguridad de España 2025 is an annual report that correlates and highlights threats to Spain, such as terrorism, state actors and the activities of organised criminal gangs. 

In the sections on the illegal trade of narcotics, the findings show that the Spanish navy’s maritime operations and surveillance centre (COVAM, from Centro de Operaciones y Vigilancia de Acción Marítima) suspected as many as 600 fast launches were carrying out operations related to drug trafficking in the area of the Strait. 

Narcotics smuggling was, it said, “one of the greatest threats arising from organised crime and serious criminality”, a source of “a large proportion of the violent incidents occurring in Spain.” 

It went on to highlight a tendency towards violence and the use of military-grade weapons among organised drug trafficking groups, with a growing number of “armed confrontations, revenge attacks, kidnappings, threats, or attacks on police forces, in some cases directly affecting the public”. 

In this context, another of the issues causing the Spanish government concern is the gangs’ recruitment of minors to commit all kinds of offences, from lesser crimes to subcontracted acts of violence, including threats, assaults and even murders. 

The danger to life posed by drug trafficking in southern Andalucía has once again dominated recent headlines following the deaths of the two Guardia Civil officers in Huelva two weeks ago. 

The incident came just over two years after two officers lost their lives in the waters off Barbate on February 9, 2024, when the vessel they were in was repeatedly rammed by a fast launch, smugglers being heard celebrating as they filmed the incident and uploading the video to social media. 

The latest deaths have triggered a political storm that has rocked the Andalucían regional election campaigns, with police unions and right-wing parties renewing calls on the national PSOE government to designate police officers as being in a high-risk working environment and for the Campo de Gibraltar to be considered a critically dangerous area for law enforcement (Zona de Especial Singularidad), a classification that would empower officers to claim higher pay and better allowances. 

COMPLEX LANDSCAPE 

Spain’s special policing plan for the Campo de Gibraltar (Plan de Seguridad del Campo de Gibraltar) was put into force in 2018 and has resulted in an increased tempo of police investigations and a growing number of arrests and successful prosecutions. 

But, the report continued, gangs were evolving in response, becoming “more decentralised and flexible”, with greater autonomy among members and “crime as a service” becoming more common in an increasingly complex landscape of organised crime. 

It includes the provinces closest to the Strait, Cádiz and Málaga, among the three priority security areas for drug trafficking but noticed that police pressure in the areas covered by the anti-narcotics strategy has caused criminal organisations operating in the area to migrate into neighbouring zones. 

In addition, the sustained pace of police operations has forced traffickers to keep vessels offshore in order to avoid interception. 

This, in turn, has led some criminal groups into specialising in the supply of fuel at sea, or ‘petaqueo’ as it is known in Spanish. 

“An exponential increase has been observed in essential logistical support activities, such as fuel supply operations, which carry an additional risk linked to the volatility of these substances,” that last being a reference to a habitual lack of safety measures in the illicit caches. 

Meanwhile, the smugglers that plied the Gulf of Cádiz and the mouth of the Guadalquivir River have shifted their area of influence to the province of Huelva, the Guadiana River and the Algarve region in Portugal, the report says. 

“Aware of the seriousness of the problem, the Spanish and Portuguese authorities and security forces maintain a continuous and coordinated effort to combat this threat.” 

Banning ownership of the fast launches preferred for smuggling has led to “criminal organisations modifying routes and methods for transporting and introducing goods, as well as establishing logistical networks to enable the manufacture, transport, supply and repair of these vessels”. 

“As a result, unloading zones are expanding further westwards (the coast of Huelva and Portugal) and eastwards (from the coasts of Murcia to those of Girona and the Balearic Islands), with vessels even being detected arriving in southern France and Italy.” 

“Linked to these changes in operating procedure, the usual place of manufacture for these launches has also changed, with areas in northern Portugal being chosen where they are not considered prohibited goods.” 

“From there they are transferred to different points in Spain, mainly towards the Spanish eastern coast and Cataluña, with the Ebro delta becoming particularly important.” 

“Finally, fearing the loss of vessels and the resulting economic costs, criminal organisations are also operating from Morocco, avoiding approaching the Spanish coast in order to avoid interception.” 

In addition to landing drugs on secluded beaches, traffickers are using other vessels — small RHIBs, fishing vessels, sailing boats, leisure craft and yachts — to bring drugs into Spain through fishing ports [and] marinas”. 

Meanwhile, Spanish police have also detected individuals linked to drug trafficking diversifying and becoming integrated into criminal organisations involved in VAT fraud as, in recent years, an increasing number of connections between smugglers, VAT fraudsters and money laundering networks have come to their attention, with the involvement of Asian nationals being a notable feature in the concealment and transfer of illegally obtained funds. 

CANNABIS ROUTE 

Cannabis produced in Spain is increasingly showing higher concentrations of the psychoactive component THC, the report said, with the number of seizures of narcotics increasing. 

Regarding cannabis resin, “the route from Morocco, the world’s main producer, to Spain appears to have reactivated.” 

“Although trafficking in this substance mainly takes place by sea, once introduced into Spain a significant quantity of hashish is transported hidden in lorries, a trend already detected in 2023 and which continues to increase, with land routes persisting from Almería, Granada and Cádiz towards France and the rest of Europe”. 

The report identified another avenue, the “Atlantic hashish route”, where the drugs are loaded off Morocco’s Atlantic coast and transported by boat to African countries further south, such as Senegal, Guinea-Bissau and Guinea Conakry, where they are unloaded for subsequent overland transport through the Sahel to Libya. 

From there, they can be sent to Europe or continue towards countries in the Middle East. 

SOUTH AMERICAN CONNECTION 

The report also expressed concern about cocaine trafficking via shipping containers through major Spanish ports such as Algeciras, Barcelona and Valencia, highlighting how corruption and criminals infiltrating port services could turn critical economic infrastructure into “key logistical hubs for criminal organisations” and one of the “greatest threats” to the legal economy and national security. 

The report said that smuggling techniques have evolved here too, where the two customary smuggling routes into the continent - shipping direct to a European port or transferring narcotics between vessels in the Gulf of Guinea – have been joined by a third stratagem that had not been seen on this side of the Atlantic. 

Here, the narcotics are stowed on a container ship bound for Europe, but the vessel is boarded and the drugs recovered by the smugglers before the ship reaches port. 

The document says: “South American organisations have moved from playing a logistical role to becoming directly involved in importation, distribution and control of the retail market.” 

“These organisations stand out for their mobility, adaptability and high levels of violence, which also increases conflict between groups.” 

Drugs are hidden inside heavy machinery, within vessels’ double hulls, in the refrigeration components of containers, and even in semi-submersible vessels. 

HYBRID THREATS 

“In these operations, the presence of military-grade weapons and other war materiel has been confirmed, as well as sophisticated monitoring systems used by criminal organisations,” the report said, which pointed to another area of concern. 

The maritime routes across the Strait, Alboran Sea and near the Canary Islands were ideal for the illicit transport of materials, products or technologies linked to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and for evading international sanctions regimes. 

Drug smugglers, already accustomed to these waters, have been using their established networks for activities linked to illegal immigration. 

The use of social media, technology and artificial intelligence as hybrid threats is also being considered a national security concern. 

The report identified AI as both an enabler and disruptor of organised crime, but highlighted the development of software specifically adapted for criminal activity and the growing incidence of drones being used, particularly for carrying drugs across borders. 

It also cited the threat posed by these technologies to “critical port infrastructure and the maritime logistics chain”.