Spanish and Italian authorities have dismantled a transnational criminal network accused of trafficking hashish from Morocco through Spain to northern Italy, in a coordinated operation that resulted in 17 arrests across Europe.
According to Spanish media, the operation was carried out on February 10 by Spain’s Catalan regional police, the Mossos d'Esquadra, in cooperation with Italy’s financial crime police, the Guardia di Finanza. The suspects, aged between 20 and 60, face charges including drug trafficking and membership in a criminal organization.
The investigation was led by a court in the northeastern Spanish city of Badalona and the Anti-Mafia Prosecutor’s Office in Milan under a Joint Investigation Team active since 2024, a cross-border legal framework used within the European Union to tackle organized crime.
Simultaneous raids were conducted in several locations across Spain, mainly in the Barcelona metropolitan area, as well as in Zaragoza and Málaga, and in the Italian cities of Milan and Savona. In total, authorities carried out 14 searches and arrested 17 people.
During the operation, officers seized more than 40 kilograms of hashish, two luxury vehicles, two firearms, one real and one replica, and more than €60,000 in cash.
According to investigators, the network consisted of two interconnected branches. One cell, based in Catalonia in northeastern Spain, allegedly handled the importation of hashish from Morocco and managed storage hubs. The second branch coordinated the overland transport of the drugs from Spain to northern Italy, where they were distributed.
Authorities said the group operated through a decentralized structure made up of interdependent cells, allowing the trafficking chain to continue functioning even if individual members were arrested, a model commonly used by transnational criminal organizations.
Since the probe began in 2024, investigators have seized more than 500 kilograms of hashish and 10 kilograms of marijuana, with an estimated market value of nearly €3 million. Law enforcement officials believe the network may have transported an additional 400 kilograms that were not intercepted.
Officials described the operation as a significant blow to a criminal organization with strong logistical capacity and international reach, underscoring growing cooperation between European law enforcement agencies in combating cross-border drug trafficking.
