1.7 Tonnes of Cocaine Seized at Spain’s Valencia Port, Albanian National Among Four Arrested
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Spanish law enforcement agencies have uncovered another major cocaine shipment at the Port of Valencia, just two days after a separate seizure involving approximately 2,600 kilograms of the drug.
This time, investigators found 1,763 kilograms of cocaine concealed inside wooden logs transported in two shipping containers from Ecuador. Four men were arrested, including a Spanish-Albanian-Colombian group of suspects.
According to Spanish newspaper Información, the operation involved the EDOA anti-drug unit of the Guardia Civil in Valencia, the National Police’s central UDYCO unit and the Customs Surveillance Service.
The investigation began after security agencies received intelligence about two suspicious containers that had departed from the Ecuadorian port of Guayaquil around two weeks earlier. Commercial documents described the shipment as a timber delivery between an Ecuadorian company and a Spanish company.
On November 10, investigators examined the containers using the Medusa mobile customs scanner. The equipment detected two different density patterns inside the cargo, raising suspicions that drugs had been concealed within the timber.
A court in Valencia subsequently authorised a controlled delivery operation to identify the individuals waiting to receive the shipment.
Investigators monitored the containers as they left the port, were loaded onto trucks and transported to an industrial warehouse in Aldaia, near Valencia.
Police moved in when the suspects began unloading the cargo, arresting four men: two Spanish nationals, one Albanian and one Colombian.
Albanian suspect allegedly represented the shipment's financier
According to investigative sources cited by Información, the two Spanish suspects were responsible for unloading the containers.
The Colombian national is suspected of acting as a representative of the drug's producer, while the Albanian suspect allegedly represented the owner and financier of the cocaine shipment.
Spanish media reports have also linked the investigation to the so-called Balkan Cartel, a term used to describe criminal networks involved in international cocaine trafficking.
However, the precise organisational links remain under investigation. Authorities have not publicly released the identities of the four arrested men, and no further personal details about the Albanian suspect have been disclosed.
Cocaine concealed inside timber logs
Investigators reportedly faced considerable difficulties extracting the drugs because of the sophisticated concealment method.
According to police sources cited by the Spanish newspaper, the cocaine had been hidden inside wooden logs using a technique that authorities had not encountered for several years.
The seizure follows another major operation at Valencia's port, in which approximately 2,600 kilograms of cocaine were discovered concealed in double-bottom structures inside pallets carrying coconuts. That shipment had arrived from Ghana in August.
The two recent seizures have renewed attention on Valencia as a potential entry point for international cocaine trafficking networks seeking to move drugs from Latin America and other regions into Spain and the wider European market.
Spanish authorities had previously carried out Operation Spider, targeting a criminal network known as the “Port Cartel”, which allegedly maintained corrupt connections within port structures.
Investigators are now examining whether criminal organisations are attempting to re-establish their activities in Valencia, using the port as an entry point for cocaine destined for Madrid and other European destinations.
The four suspects remain subject to the investigation, and the allegations against them have not yet been established by a court.