The Superior Prosecutor's Office of Andalusia confirms in its annual report that the community has consolidated itself as a decisive enclave in the European map of drug trafficking, a phenomenon that has experienced a notable increase in "sophistication and violence." In this context, the Public Prosecutor highlights the role of petaqueo as the "keystone" within the maritime logistics of criminal organizations, which store and move large volumes of fuel "without safety measures and next to inhabited areas," which has "increased the objective risk" for the population.
In the document corresponding to the fiscal year 2025, the Andalusian Prosecutor's Office details that during the previous year, 340,701 preliminary proceedings were initiated, which represents a slight increase of 0.06 percent. However, there is a warning of a 13 percent rise in the most serious crimes in the last analyzed year.
In the section dedicated to drug trafficking, the superior prosecutor of Andalusia, Ana Tárrago, emphasizes that the region does not act solely as a maritime entry point for drugs, but as a complete criminal ecosystem. It encompasses the domestic production of cannabis, the logistics of supplying fuel to high-speed vessels, the use of river and port routes for the introduction of cocaine and hashish, and at the same time, the expansion of international networks that launder their profits very quickly.
According to the report, the phenomenon has gained in density, sophistication, and violence during the last year, in which a "certain militarization" of the groups has been observed, which sometimes act with war weapons and advanced technology, even incorporating "individuals with experience in recent war scenarios."
Within that logistical structure, Tárrago emphasizes the prominence of petaqueo, the name given to the supply of fuel to the narco-boats that transport the drugs. The prosecutor warns that this practice "has shifted from being an auxiliary phenomenon to becoming the keystone of the maritime infrastructure of drug trafficking." The investigations carried out in 2025 reveal the presence of organizations almost exclusively focused on this function.
These networks have underground deposits with a capacity for tens of thousands of liters, tank trucks, and containers of more than a thousand liters, articulating refueling chains capable of serving several vessels in the same day. The Prosecutor's Office emphasizes that "the profit per operation --when hundreds of jerrycans are counted per boat-- is so high that the deterrent capacity of isolated measures is diluted."
As a consequence, the "objective risk to public safety has skyrocketed: fuel stored in garages of apartment blocks, transport without safety measures, and nighttime movements near inhabited areas configure scenarios of deflagration that we cannot normalize," warns the chief prosecutor.
This activity is concentrated especially in Huelva, Cádiz, and Almería. In Huelva, 344,308 liters of gasoline were seized, more than double that in 2024, while in Cádiz the figure exceeded 262,000 liters, representing an increase close to 80 percent.
Granada, the nucleus of the marijuana business
In parallel, cannabis cultivation, both indoors and outdoors, has consolidated as a structural criminal economy in Andalusia. Granada continues to be the main focus, with family clans and closed groups that have perfected airtight facilities, camouflaged in the urban fabric and "supported by a systematic electrical fraud that collapses the supply, causes blackouts, and fuels fires."
In certain vulnerable neighborhoods, the intermittency in the electrical supply has become a visible indicator of clandestine activity, with a strong social impact: "from businesses that cannot operate normally to vulnerable families," points out the chief prosecutor, who calls for coordinated actions with distribution companies and municipalities.
Hashish: large shipments and diversified routes
The entry of hashish maintains "its historical pulse, with Cádiz and Huelva as the vertebrae of the Atlantic corridor," to which Málaga and Almería are added, although with less weight. In 2025, the use of double bottoms in large-tonnage trucks from Morocco was consolidated, with an enormous loading capacity, as reflected in the seizures of 23,000 kilos and 15,000 kilos intercepted in the Port of Algeciras, or the 13,700 kilos located in a truck in Almería.
Likewise, novel methods have been detected, such as the excavation of tunnels in the border environment of Ceuta, without this reducing the recurrent discharge by high-speed vessels at the mouth of the Guadalquivir and the coast of Barbate. In Huelva, an increase in larger and more autonomous narcolanchas has been observed, complicating the arrest of crews and displacing part of the logistical infrastructure to inland areas or even to the neighboring country, without decreasing the detectable flow at sea. The Prosecutor's Office interprets these episodes as part "of a diversified logistics that combines sea, port, and land custody."
Cocaine trafficking and increasing violence
Regarding cocaine, the Andalusian Prosecutor's Office highlights that it has been the main change of the year. In the Port of Algeciras, large-scale shipments hidden in containers have been seized, while the coast of Barbate and the surroundings of Sanlúcar de Barrameda have maintained sustained activity.
In Huelva, it has been observed how narcolanchas with more power and autonomy carry out transfers at sea to evade port controls. Sevilla, through the Guadalquivir, has established itself as a hub for transporting large quantities, with two significant seizures: 6,500 and 2,883 kilos of cocaine in separate procedures.
In this scenario, disputes between groups have intensified violence to ensure their impunity in the river and its banks, which has forced the reinforcement of naval and aerial means in the most critical sections. Almería has emerged in a novel way as a point of entry or storage, modifying the traditional map of this substance in the region. The Costa del Sol also maintains its role, with the Port of Málaga as one of the access points.
Andalusia has also consolidated itself as a convergence point for international networks. In the Costa del Sol, groups of different nationalities operate capable of activating support teams, acquiring properties and front companies, and moving funds quickly in and out of Spain.
The Prosecutor's Office identifies this process of internationalization as another of the factors that overload the delegated anti-drug prosecutors, as it extends to all areas of action, with the emergence of mafias from Eastern European countries and the main producers from Ibero-America to control the merchandise, as well as organizations from other European countries, where the final destination of the drug is located.