Police in Spain have broken up a drug-trafficking network which used pensioners to smuggle cocaine into the country on board cruise liners

Police in Spain have broken up a drug-trafficking network which used pensioners to smuggle cocaine into the country on board luxury trans-Atlantic cruise liners. The network used women posing as tourists who picked up the drugs in South America, hiding them in their suitcases to hand over them to another network member once the ships docked in Spain.27 kilos of cocaine were found in a cabin on board a trans-Atlantic cruise ship when it docked in port in Cádiz, the Interior Ministry says in a press release. It’s thought the drugs were picked up when the ship docked in Brazil. The cocaine was destined for Cataluña and Ibiza, the Ministry said, while cannabis destined for distribution in Europe, mainly Holland, was also smuggled in to Spain by the network.Nine arrests were made in total, including one of the suspected leaders who was arrested in Lepe, Huelva, while attempting to cross over into Portugal and then escape by plane to Brazil.Police also raided two hydroponic marijuana farms in Barcelona where more than 200 plants were found. That part of the network was led by a man from Holland, police say.

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Seven people who were being held hostage

Lepe a sleepy small provincial town close to the Portugese border more famous for its strawberrys than crime was stirred into the headlines when a group of seven people who were being held hostage in Lepe and Cartaya, Huelva province, were freed this weekend, in a Civil Guard operation which took the seven kidnappers into custody. EFE says two of the kidnappers lived in Cartaya, itself, three others from elsewhere in Huelva province, another in Madrid and the seventh in Holland. Two of them have Moroccan nationality.
Four of the hostages were found under guard in two vehicles parked near the Marina Ocio shopping centre in Lepe following a report to Lepe local police from the son of one of those who were being held. He said his parent was being held by kidnappers in the area after being missing from home for two days.
The kidnappers were nearby and were arrested as they tried to escape.
The remaining three hostages were found near a chalet in Cartaya, four kilometres outside Lepe, after managing to escape when the kidnappers left. All seven were previously held captive in the property.
There was no indication in the report if the kidnappers had made any demands for a ransom.

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