The Operational Unit of Customs Surveillance in Melilla of the Civil Guard, together with the National Police, has dismantled a network dedicated to the trafficking of hashish that used vehicles with double bottoms to move the drug from Melilla to the Peninsula, within the "Sarcina-Orange" operation.
According to details provided by the Civil Guard, within the framework of this operation, seven searches have been carried out in different homes in the Autonomous City of Melilla and 14 people of Spanish nationality have been arrested, who are attributed alleged crimes of criminal organization and against public health. All of them already had numerous police records.
During the searches, four vehicles equipped with double bottoms, several mobile phone terminals, various documents relevant to the case, and a frequency jammer "presumably used to hinder the work of the investigative teams" have been seized.
Simultaneously, joint asset investigations have been carried out by Customs Surveillance of the Tax Agency, the Civil Guard's Asset Group, and the Economic and Fiscal Crime Unit (UDEF) of the National Police.
With the set of actions carried out, the agents consider the criminal structure completely dismantled. The investigation has made it possible to confirm that the group introduced large quantities of hashish into Melilla from Morocco using cars prepared with double bottoms. Once in the city, the drug was transferred to different properties used as "nurseries," where it was stored before distribution.
The investigations began in March 2025, when the National Police detected the presence in Melilla of a perfectly structured and hierarchical organization, dedicated to sending significant quantities of hashish to the Peninsula, for its subsequent distribution in different parts of Spain and other European countries.
According to the press release, "thanks to arduous investigation, all members of the network and the functions they performed in the organization could be identified." It was also determined that it was one of the most active groups on the Mediterranean coast.
Three tons of hashish hidden in pressed cardboard
Last October 16, the Customs Surveillance Service and the Civil Guard became aware of a drug shipment hidden among pressed cartons destined for the Peninsula. A surveillance operation was then activated, which concluded with the seizure of approximately 3,000 kilos of hashish and the arrest of two people in the province of Granada.
Subsequent investigations made it possible to link this shipment to the organization previously investigated by the National Police, which led to the creation of a joint investigation team that, according to the Civil Guard, has completely dismantled the network.
The proceedings have been carried out by the Organic Unit of Judicial Police of Melilla, the Operational Unit of Melilla of Customs Surveillance, dependent on the Tax Agency, and the National Police.
In the exploitation phase of the operation, investigators had the support of the Citizen Security Units of the Command (USECIC), the Cynological Service of the Command of the Civil Guard of Melilla, and the Prevention and Reaction Unit (UPR) of the National Police. In addition, a scanner from the Customs Surveillance Service (DAVA) was used in Melilla.