NARCO speedboats are becoming increasingly aggressive in Spanish waters, a report has revealed – with some now reportedly armed with ‘weapons of war.’
More than 600 so-called ‘go-fast’ vessels were spotted tearing through the Strait of Gibraltar in 2025 alone, according to the Spanish government’s annual security report, in what authorities branded a ‘major threat to national security.’
The warning comes just days after two Guardia Civil officers were killed while chasing suspected drug smugglers off the coast of Huelva – sparking outrage as cartel-linked traffickers grow ever more ruthless in southern Spain.
According to the report, drawn up by Spain’s National Security Department, traffickers are increasingly resorting to ramming police patrol boats when they fear losing their cargo or being intercepted.
The document also warns of a sharp rise in criminal gangs recruiting minors to carry out crimes and violent attacks in exchange for cash.
Since a major police crackdown in the Campo de Gibraltar in 2018, cartels have shifted their routes and expanded operations into other parts of southern Spain – including the Huelva coast, the Guadiana River and Portugal’s Algarve region.
Authorities across southern Spain have been demanding more police funding since two Guardia Civil officers were killed after a narco speedboat smashed into their vessel near Barbate in 2024.
Last week’s deaths of two more Guardia Civil officers reignited the row, with police unions blasting the ruling left-wing PSOE government over its handling of the spiralling crisis.
The officers, later named as German Perez and Jeronimo Jimenez, were pursuing a drug-laden speedboat off the coast of Huelva when two Guardia Civil vessels collided during the chase.
Perez, 55, reportedly died instantly. Jimenez, 56, later succumbed to his injuries in hospital in Jerez de la Frontera near Cadiz.
Two other officers were injured in the crash — one seriously — after the suspected traffickers allegedly carried out a ‘dangerous’ manoeuvre during the high-speed pursuit.
The national Guardia Civil union, AUGC, lashed out at PSOE secretary general for Andalucia, Maria Jesus Montero, after she described the tragedy as a ‘workplace accident.’
“Workplace accident, Mrs Montero?” the union wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
“The pattern is always the same: organised violence, insufficient resources, and the State looking the other way.”
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