Smugglers used divers

According to Spanish media, a recent bust led to the arrests of eight traffickers in Estepona. Over a tonne of hashish was seized.

It transpired that the group had imported the drugs into southern Spain from Morocco by an “unusual method” involving underwater storage.

Waterproofed drug bundles would be brought by boat to positions near the coast around Estepona, before being dropped to the seabed.

They would be placed at pre-arranged spots, usually in about 20m of water, and buoyed.

When it was decided to recover the bundles, teams involving divers and jetskis would go out to the sites.

The divers would descend and raise the bundles to the surface, where they would be taken aboard the jetskis for landing.

When the arrests were made, 700kg of the drugs haul still lay on the seabed off Estepona’s Saladillo beach, awaiting retrieval.