Secret tunnel between Morocco, Spanish exclave used to smuggle hash for Netherlands
The Spanish authorities discovered a secret tunnel between Morocco and the Spanish exclave of Ceuta on Saturday, used to smuggle hashish into Europe. According to the Spanish newspaper El País, the drugs were intended mainly for the Netherlands. The main suspect in the case has family ties to drug criminals here, the newspaper wrote.
Cueta belongs to Spain but is located on the North African coast, opposite the Spanish mainland. The border between Morocco and the Spanish exclave is heavily guarded, hence the underground tunnel.
According to the Spanish police, the entrance to the tunnel was hidden behind a refrigerator in a factory hall in Cueta, close to the border. “It’s a very well-prepared, very well-equipped drug tunnel, a tunnel specifically designed for hashish trafficking,” police commissioner Antionio Martinez Duarte said in a press conference on Tuesday.
The tunnel labyrinth had multiple levels, the deepest located about 19 meters underground. The tunnel passage through which the drugs were smuggled across the border was 80 centimeters wide and 1.2 meters high. It was equipped with rails, small cranes, and pulleys to easily move pallets of hashish.
The Spanish authorities estimate that about 2 tons of hashish could be smuggled through the tunnel complex per week. Once in Cueta, the drugs were transported to the European mainland by small boats.
The Spanish authorities had been on these drug smugglers’ trails for a year. The alleged mastermind behind the smuggling gang, Mustafa Chairi B., was arrested in Morocco on March 26. According to El País, B. is a Moroccan businessman with a criminal record and family ties with drug criminals in the Netherlands. Another ringleader was apprehended in Cueta.
In February, the authorities discovered another smuggling tunnel at the same complex in Cueta. This one was less complex than the one discovered on Saturday, but the bust and subsequent raids gave the Spanish authorities more insight into the drug network. In the past few months, police arrested 27 people and seized over 17 tons of drugs, 15 luxury cars, and nearly €1.5 million in cash.
