Alex Trelinski
THE Policia Nacional has busted a gang that used Ukrainian drones to fly hashish to Spain from Morocco.
The crew was led by a Ukrainian who fought against Russia in the current conflict.
He had a specialist knowledge of drones and imported them in kit-form from his native country.
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The 10 detainees also included Spanish and Moroccan nationals, with six house searches carried out in Algeciras and Marbella.
Seven of the group, including the leader, have been put into pre-trial detention.
Three drones- one of which was being constructed- were seized as well as ‘significant’ amounts of cash and drugs.
The investigation also involved assistance from police in Poland and Ukraine.
As opposed to other craft that have been used for narco trips between Africa and Spain, the Ukrainian drones were fixed-wing and were shipped by road to Andalucia.
Criminal gangs in the Campo de Gibraltar and Costa del Sol areas were then offered deals on transporting their consignments by air.
The police probe started over a year ago when a group was found to be using large drones to carry up to 10 kilos of hashish on each flight with a range of nearly 100 kilometres.
They would fly from Morocco to Spain and drop the drugs.- without having to land- in areas of difficult accessibility to avoid the police.
The drone would then return across the Strait of Gibraltar to North Africa.
The Policia Nacional said that up to 100 flights were carried out and estimate that around 1,000 kilos of hashish had been transported.
