XIX century smugglers used trained dogs to float tobacco products Gibraltar To La Linea de la Concepcion. These were the first steps in a criminal lineage that would expand its illicit trade into Moroccan-produced cannabis in the 20th century. And how do you extend it: It started on April 10 algeciras HE Macro lawsuit by brothers Antonio and Francisco Tejón against more than 150 alleged members of the Castaña clan. It should be the culmination of the irresponsible war declared by the Ministry of Interior in 2018 against drug trafficking on the Andalusian coast. unprecedented anger. You never know the fortunes Southern drug traffickers spend on specialized lawyers.
Andros Lozano, author of ‘The Cost’. ‘Laws of the Strait’ (KO Books), guessing that At least 10,000 people from Morocco from the organized promotion of cannabis live in Málaga, Huelva and, above all, Cádiz. “Police calculations mention about 3,000 people in La Línea alone, he says. Based on this known data, 10,000 seems to me a very cautious estimate.”
‘Cost’ considers the smuggling of cannabis resin from historical, geographical and socioeconomic perspectives (the unemployment rate in Cádiz is 25%, the highest in Spain). It also details the structure of the industry and presents the ‘who’s who’ of the racquet’s most important names. Lozano brings the story to life immersed in police operations and encountering characters of varying degrees within the police force drug trafficking, as well as its victims.
With four “pigs” in a boat
A journalist from ‘El Mundo’ set off one night in a ‘tire’ for a round trip between a beach in Cádiz and a beach in Morocco. They spent four hours in a semi-rigid boat with the four ‘bitches’ (narcotics in police slang) and only the boss knew who he was.. On the way back, there were 2,400 kilos of marijuana on board. “I had three fears—remembers Lozano—. ‘Notary’ [persona de confianza de la organización marroquí, por lo común también marroquí] He asked who I was and what I was doing there. I didn’t ask. That we had an accident on the open sea because of a chase. It didn’t happen. And that there is a ‘tipping’ in the unloading of the bales. [robo del alijo por parte de otra banda]. It didn’t happen.” The police were the least of his worries. “He would definitely go to court because he didn’t have any protection because he was there. Another thing is what I will explain later and the judge will find out.”
Lozano does not know why the ‘transit’ captain agreed to take him on board, a competent independent, so to speak. “I was in contact with him and other drug traffickers for a year and a half,” he says. Three days later he received a photograph of the trader uncorking a bottle of champagne next to a bare-chested young woman.. It was accompanied by a text: “Life is smiling at me.”
Exhibitionism in social networks
The former is a discreet type by guild standards. Clothing, often sportswear and branded accessories, luxury cars, luxury villas, yachts, dating and partying with prostitutes, cocaine and Viagra is part of the narco lifestyle.It’s not uncommon for them to brag. “The young narcos of the Bosphorus are oblivious to common sense,” Lozano says. [hijo del narco de La Línea apodado igual] He uploaded a video of him eating shrimp in his cell to TikTok. Neither the scammer nor the cell phone on which he was recorded could be there. Also that day he posted a picture of a Mercedes A-Class and a Lamborghini Urus with the phrase: “This is how you leave Botafuegos.” They’re in full swing and they love to show it on their social media.”
‘Cost’ Dynamite the common notion that cannabis trafficking is ‘peccata minuta’ compared to cocaine and heroin. “Drug traffickers produce a lot of violence in Andalusia. Criminal gangs from all over the world have cells on the Costa del Sol, and that means closing accounts, ‘overturning’,” Lozano says.
Legalization: all or nothing
This cannabis legalizationDoes it solve anything that isn’t currently a heated discussion? “Maybe if it was implemented at least across the EU, because Andalusian drug traffickers are the middlemen who put drugs into the hands of organizations all over Europe. Tobacco is already legal and there is still tobacco smuggling because it makes a profit.”
With Morocco it is better not to count. “The country produces about 40,000 tons of cannabis a year, and anyone who goes to the Ketama region can see the cannabis fields – pointing to Lozano -. It seems that the Moroccan government is not considering attacking drug trafficking at the source.”
During the period when the border was closed due to the pandemic, there was an explosion in traffic. Using drones to bring cannabis from Morocco to Ceuta. In July 2021, the National Police seized a never-before-seen drone from a French mob on the Costa del Sol: seven hours of autonomy, a top speed of 170 kilometers per hour and a cargo capacity of 150 kilograms. The future of drug trafficking through the Strait? “The drug smuggler is always ahead, and I’m sure in the short to medium term they will discover the path of drones. They are looking for an alternative to pressure at sea. But it is easier to detect drug trafficking from the air than drug trafficking by sea.”