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ARCHIVED - More than 5,500 arrests made and 268,000 kilos of drugs seized in Andalusia anti-drug plan
The Carteia Plan was launched in 2018 and initially focused on Campo de Gibraltar in Cádiz, but later expanded to include Málaga and Huelva.
The Carteia plan, launched by the Ministry of the Interior in Andalusia in 2018 to fight drug trafficking, has so far led to 5,553 arrests and the seizure of 268 tonnes of drugs together with 1,133 vehicles and 404 boats, the Guardia Civil has reported.
The project started in Campo de Gibraltar (Cádiz) and later spread to other areas such as Málaga and Huelva as narcos moved further along the coastline in an effort to distance their operations from the police crackdown.
Over the three years, it has involved 2,621 Guardia Civil operations, 753 related to money laundering, which have led to the seizure of almost 40 million euros, and 221 officers have been brought in as reinforcements, the general director of the armed police force, María Gámez, has explained.
During the first three months of this year alone, there have been 536 operations, 62 of them relating to money laundering, which have resulted in 801 arrests and seizure of 55 tonnes of drugs. Assets worth almost 19 million euros, including 187 vehicles and 98 boats, have also been seized.
“The Guardia Civil is attacking the heart of the criminal organisations which, in order to survive, are changing their modus operandi and their area of action to try to escape police pressure,” the general director said, stressing that the force is conditioning and anticipating narcos’ actions.
The initial plan was updated last October with the launch of the Carteia 2020-2021 operation, which is now covering Cádiz, Málaga, Granada, Almería, Huelva, Seville, Ceuta and the waters adjacent to these areas.
In terms of resources, the Guardia Civil has spent more than eight million euros in the Campo de Gibraltar for the 2020 and 2021 period, and almost 100 new vehicles will soon be delivered to the area to carry on the never-ending battle against drug trafficking.
