Three people were arrested in Marbella as part of a broad operation by national police authorities that disrupted a sailboat shipment carrying MDMA from Europe toward South America, reversing the traditional cocaine route once favored by organized crime. The vessel, based in Sotogrande, was intercepted as it began its voyage from Cádiz toward Argentina. The haul comprised 56 kilos of drugs, a quantity that could yield between 800,000 and 1,200,000 tablets on the black market. The arrests occurred on the Costa del Sol and Tarifa while the sailboat prepared to head toward the Canary Islands to stock up before attempting the jump to Argentina.
The operation began late October after investigators detected a plot to supply several criminal groups in the Costa del Sol with synthetic drugs for distribution during the Christmas period. Authorities learned that the MDMA would be sent to South America through a sea route already used by some groups to transport cannabis to the new continent, though not typically associated with designer drugs.
Argentine sources provided information about a citizen who traveled to Spain via Brazil to supervise the sailboat and oversee plans for an intercontinental drug shipment. Within the EMPACT framework, cooperation included the Portuguese Judicial Police, EUROPOL, and the United Kingdom National Crime Agency.
Spain Qatar matches
With the support of investigators, four additional Argentine nationals with ties to a sailboat already found in 2020 in connection with a cocaine shipment were identified, and nearly 1,500 kilos of white powder were seized. An abandoned boat near Sotogrande was secured, and strict security measures were applied to prevent any link to the prior operation. The crew did not communicate with outsiders and did not disembark without passengers, moving supplies and tools during off hours. The most suspicious activity coincided with times when the Spanish national team played in the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, according to the Police Headquarters.
One of the packages recovered on board was photographed and documented as part of the investigation.
Meanwhile, a fifth Argentine national established residence in Marbella, supplying the crew with tools, aluminum plates, and wood. By the end of November, two detainees renamed the sailboat, and two researchers began sailing toward a safe port in Tarifa when a setback occurred. Once the crew was reorganized, the vessel turned toward the Canary Islands to collect supplies for the intended voyage to Argentina.
As the sailboat left Tarifa, a patrol vessel from the Fenix tax office and the customs inspection service caught up with the group. After hours of surveillance and coordination among Police, SVA investigators, and GOIT members, a hidden compartment hidden behind a kitchen cabinet was discovered. The compartment contained 28 packages, totaling 56 kilos of MDMA, carefully sealed and masked with diesel to obscure the scent. Officers arrested the three suspects remaining in Marbella who had helped outfit the boat.
According to investigators, the message to the path of the substance pointed toward Argentina, where the group planned to convert the MDMA into pills for distribution. The quantity, 56 kilos, is unusual in South America compared with Europe but could yield tens of millions of doses depending on purity and market demand.
New route
This operation exposes a new drug trafficking route, with Europe as the origin and Latin America as the destination, signaling a potential shift in the market with millions of possible consumers. The high value of synthetic drugs in the Americas appears to be driving the creation of this maritime route for shipments of designer drugs and other substances.