THE government has revealed that 106 Spanish police officers have been arrested for drug-related offences since 2021.
Among them is Luis Fernandez Rafael, the former chief of the National Police’s Narcotics Unit in Valladolid.
He was arrested in December 2025 after an internal police investigation discovered that he was saving cocaine from drug-busts he coordinated and selling it to a Dominican gang operating in the city.
Another high-profile case was that of a Guardia Civil officer in Bilbao who was arrested after transporting 120kg of cocaine in his patrol car.
Meanwhile, the former head of Spain’s UDEF anti-money-laundering unit, Oscar Sanchez Gil was arrested in 2024 after officers discovered €20 million concealed in walls, ceilings and cupboards at his property in Alcala de Henares, near Madrid.
Investigators say Sanchez Gil granted safe passage for at least 37 maritime containers packed with cocaine through Spanish ports, in return he allegedly received more than €30 million in bribes.
According to data from the Ministry of the Interior, 24 of the recorded arrests were in 2025, marking the highest figure since 2021.
The lowest number of arrests in the last five years was recorded in 2022, with 16 cases.
Figures on so-called ‘narco-cops’ were revealed in parliament following calls from EH Bildu, a pro-independence Basque party, for greater transparency around police corruption.
The specific crimes and police units involved were not disclosed, despite pressure from EH Bildu to make the information public.
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