TWENTY people have been arrested in a massive Guardia Civil operation that has dismantled a major international cocaine trafficking ring operating across the notorious ‘Costa del Sol triangle’.
Officers stormed 22 properties across Marbella, Algeciras, San Roque, Los Barrios and La Linea in a coordinated strike against the cartel.
The sweeping raids targeted the notorious Risitas clan and finally netted the organisation’s leader, who had been on the run since a major drug bust in 2023.
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The elusive boss had managed to slip through the net during Operation ‘Kiken’ three years ago, a sting that saw 30 people arrested and more than 1,000 kilograms of cocaine seized.
However, during the latest raids the gang’s second-in-command managed to evade capture and remains at large.
Following the 2023 crackdown, the cartel set up a legitimate road transport company to operate quietly within the Port of Algeciras.
The smugglers used highly sophisticated double bottoms under their semi-trailers to sneak operatives into the port.
These ‘extractors’ would secretly open shipping containers to retrieve the hidden cocaine before slipping back into the secret compartments to exit the port undetected.
The tactic allowed the gang to bypass visual inspections of truck cabins and cargo holds entirely.
Detectives linked the group to a massive 445-kilogram cocaine seizure at the Los Guijos industrial estate in Algeciras in October 2025.
During that bust, two gang members were caught red-handed while pulling drugs from a false bottom in a trailer.
The Risitos clan has long been a highly capable organisation operating primarily out of the Campo de Gibraltar, while its bosses often use the luxury of Marbella as a glamorous hideout.
They built their criminal empire by specialising in the gancho perdido method, a tactic that involves sneaking massive shipments of South American cocaine into legitimate shipping containers without the importing company ever knowing.
The syndicate became a top-tier target for both Europol and the Guardia Civil during the massive Operation Kiken sting in 2023 .
That crackdown resulted in the arrest of more than 30 people and the seizure of over 1,000 kilos of cocaine, alongside assault rifles, luxury watches and €172,000 in cash.
Detectives soon realised what made the clan so effective was how deeply they had managed to infiltrate the Port of Algeciras.
Corrupt dockworkers and truck drivers were heavily recruited, using their daily jobs as the perfect cover to access the drug-laden cargo.
Having been a high-priority fugitive for three years, the boss and his second-in-command decided to upgrade their smuggling operation rather than lay low.
They purchased a legitimate transport company to operate inside the port and began building sophisticated false bottoms in their trailers to smuggle their operatives in and out of the terminals completely undetected.
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