The newly started ferry service between Motril and Melilla has just had the first incident of somebody using the ship to smuggle drugs over into Spain.

The Guardia Civil at Motril Port at the Vehicle & Passenger Control point arrested a 20-year-old man from Melilla had had tried to smuggle through hashish pollen in a plastic bottle. Drug-sniffer dogs had detected the stash when the vehicle was subjected to a routine search.

It just goes to prove how efficient these dogs are when you consider how the drug was disguised: it the drugs was inside a sealed plastic bag within the bottle and the bottle had been filled with sulphur to disguise the scent.

Whilst still on the subject of the Motril ferry, many North Africans that normally make their way back to their homes for Ramadan via Tarifa/Algerciras have been taking a short cut via Motril, with the result that the service is saturated. At the end of June, for example, 40 vehicles were left behind because there was just not any room left.

The normal exit ports for the North African traffic is reinforced with extra sailing times during what is known as Operacion Paso del Estrecho (Operation Straits Crossing).

The new ferry link has become a huge success in such a short time, seeing as it opened on the 12th of July with around 50 passengers to a point, two weeks later, when cars have to be turned back owing to the high demand. Obviously, things will settle down once the summer has passed, but there can now be little doubt that the new Motril-Melilla ferry link was an excellent idea.

(News: Motril, Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia)