It was on November the 4th, 2017 when a major, drugs bust hit the news, and although the gang were based in the Basque Lands, the name of Almuñécar cropped up, too.

This was because the Policía Nacional raided a fruit storehouse in Almuñécar and found 482 kilos of 85% pure cocaine; i.e., very high quality, which had a street value of 57-million euros. It was the biggest amount ever in the province found in a drugs raid – even the American DEA was involved in the police operation.

It had arrived in Almuñécar from  Zarautz (where the police had found another 611 kilos of coke belonging to the gang) in a lorry. When the police swooped, it was to arrest four British citizens, amongst them the lorry driver.

The driver had arrived and parked on a lay-by on the N-340 in front of Camping Carambola to await his contact. When the guide arrived he guided him to a fruit warehouse. After the lorry was unloaded, the police sprung the trap and made the arrestrs.

In March 2021, the provincial law courts sentenced each of the arrested men to eight years in prison. However, the defence lawyers appealed before the Regional Supreme Court (TSJA) on the grounds that his clients hadn’t known what was in the lorry. The tribunal rejected the appeal.

So they appealed again but this time before the highest court of the land, the Tribuno Supremo, only to lose again. This means that now the original sentences stand.

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