A DUTCH-LED criminal gang based in Marbella has been smashed after allegedly using ordinary-looking picnic cool boxes to ship cannabis across Europe.
Investigators uncovered a trafficking network moving drugs from the Costa del Sol to at least six European countries.
They arrested nine people in a coordinated international operation across Spain, Belgium, Italy and Poland.
Authorities accuse the group of sending marijuana and hashish hidden inside expanded polystyrene coolers, carefully sealing and packaging them to mask any smell.
They then allegedly disguised the parcels with fictitious sender details before handing them over to delivery companies.
Operation ‘Waves’ began after Belgian authorities raised alarm over suspicious shipments originating in southern Spain.
Belgian authorities alerted Spain’s Guardia Civil, and Malaga’s Judicial Police quickly traced the source back to a Marbella-based network.
Investigators say mainly Dutch and Venezuelan nationals made up the organisation and set up a system to distribute drugs across the EU.
Gang members sent packages to countries including Germany, France, Luxembourg, Belgium, Italy and Poland.
In total, police intercepted 17 parcels containing 47,58kg of marijuana and 8,3kg of hashish, along with €23,000 in cash.
Six coordinated searches carried out across Spain and several European countries led to the arrests of nine suspects.
Three of them were held on the Costa del Sol, with the rest detained in Belgium, Italy and Poland.
Authorities suspect those arrested of drug trafficking and involvement in a criminal organisation.
Investigators have linked the group to a wider logistics chain that exploited legitimate parcel delivery services to move narcotics across borders.
Spanish authorities have placed the Marbella-based suspects in provisional detention as the investigation continues.
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