DR ‹ › The trial of 19 defendants is set to open on Monday at the Granada Court, in a case involving an alleged criminal network specialized in smuggling drugs from Morocco to Spain's southern coast using high-speed boats. The accused face prison sentences of up to eight and a half years and fines that could reach €17 million each. The case dates back to 2019, when Spain's Civil Guard and Customs Surveillance services uncovered the activities of an organized maritime trafficking network operating between Morocco and the province of Granada. According to investigators, the group was led by four ringleaders and functioned through a tightly structured organization, relying on boats specifically adapted for drug smuggling. The remaining defendants were assigned roles ranging from logistics and surveillance to storage and transport, and were considered trusted operatives within the network. Their movements had been under close monitoring by Spanish security services. On December 28, 2019, the Civil Guard's operations center alerted patrols in the town of Nerja after detecting a suspicious vessel traveling at high speed about 12 miles offshore, heading toward Almuñécar beach with visible packages on board. Security forces were dispatched to the area, where seven individuals were caught in the act of unloading 56 bundles of drugs, weighing a total of 1,581 kilograms, with an estimated market value of €2.6 million. Several suspects were arrested on the spot, while the remaining defendants were apprehended during the broader operation, which also included searches of the main suspects' residences. The trial is expected to last five sessions and will be heard by the second chamber of the Granada Regional Court.
