Two tons of hashish wash up in Ceuta

Almost two tons of hashish have washed up on the beaches of the Spanish North African exclave of Ceuta in the last 24 hours.

By Tuesday afternoon the Civil Guard and the police had recovered 68 bundles, each weighing 30 kilos, from the bay to the north of the city, which lies opposite the Rock of Gibraltar, most of them on Calamocarro beach. Several other packets were also found around 10 kilometers further south on Ceuta’s Sarchal beach. In total the value of the recovered drugs is estimated to be around €2 million.

The origin of the packages was still unknown as of Tuesday night. Police suspect they might have fallen from a semi-rigid boat traveling across the Strait of Gibraltar but had been caught out by the stormy weather that left much of Ceuta cut off on Monday night. Drug traffickers usually make the most of strong easterly winds to try to make it across to Spain from northern Morocco.

The news of the discoveries has spread like wildfire across the social networks, and so far at least one person has been arrested for trying to make off with one of the bundles. National Police, Civil Guard officers, local police and the army have cordoned off some beaches to stop any packages yet to be discovered from ending up in the wrong hands.