Police in Spain have seized 752kg of methamphetamine after breaking up a gang that was smuggling the drug into the country by hiding it in special cavities drilled into huge blocks of marble.
The investigation into Spain’s largest-ever seizure of the drug began last August after police and inland revenue officers noticed that a company was importing 25-tonne marble blocks from Mexico to the Spanish port of Valencia despite lacking the necessary resources and infrastructure.
A joint operation between the Guardia Civil, national police and customs officers was launched to look into the apparent shell company and soon began probing a shipment of six large marble blocks that arrived in Valencia in mid-October.
Officers noticed strange markings on the base of one of the blocks and monitored the stone as it was transported to a quarry in the town of La Romana in Alicante province.
Subsequent raids led to the arrest of five people, the confiscation of 352kg of methamphetamine – and the discovery of the smugglers’ modus operandi.
“To avoid detection, the suspects had drilled holes – or cylindrical cavities – into the marble, in which they had hidden 43 plastic-wrapped packets of the drug,” the Guardia Civil said in a statement.
Desarticulada en Alicante una organización criminal que introducía metanfetamina oculta en bloques de mármol, en la mayor incautación realizada hasta el momento en España
— Guardia Civil 🇪🇸 (@guardiacivil) March 3, 2020
Se ha detenido a cinco personas e intervenido 752 kilos de metanfetamina en estado puro pic.twitter.com/oOAFPZwCSQ
“Once the plastic packages were inserted into the cavities – a task performed in Mexico – the blocks were sealed with resin, topped with a marble cover and finally finished off with very tough mortar.”
While the resultant surface looked like marble, the statement added, the altered side of the 25-tonne block was placed face down as a precaution against suspicious eyes.
Shortly afterwards, customs officers intercepted another shipment of marble and found another drilled-out block, this time containing 400kg of methamphetamine.
The investigating team recovered five guns and €150,000 (£129,000) in cash, seized assets including 19 properties, 14 vehicles and froze seven banks accounts. Twenty-six “uncontaminated” blocks of marble were also confiscated.
