Police officers from the Servicio de Vigilancia Aduanera (SVA) based in Motril confiscated two tonnes of cannabis, found in an inflatable craft on a beach near the border between the municipalities of Torrox and Nerja.
The 62 packets of drugs were abandoned during a seaborne chase between the smugglers and the Guardia Civil (Customs) coastal vessel.
The incident began around ten in the evening just off the Granada/Málaga provincial border during a routine land patrol. The Guardia Civil policemen heard the sound of outboard motors coming from down below on a beach so they radioed the patrol boat, Colimbo II. Whilst it was on the way, the land patrol saw that the suspects were unloading so they occupied possible escape routes leaving the patrol vessel to cut off a possible seaborne escape route.
Seeing that the police were closing in, the crew of the high-speed launch decided to speed to a nearby beach with difficult land access, managing to escape before the police could shift position.
Besides the confiscated drugs, the police also towed away the 7-metre long zodiac, which had two large-cylinder outboards installed.
(News: Torrox/Nerja, Axarquía, Costa del Sol, Andalucia)