State Security Forces made a total of 24,114 arrests for activities related to drug trafficking in 2020, a figure that represents a slight decrease of 0.24 percent compared to the previous year. More than half of those arrested (58 percent) were related to the trafficking of cannabis products.
The figure is collected in the Annual Statistics on Drugs 2020, a report prepared by the Intelligence Centre against Terrorism and Organized Crime (CITCO) of the Secretary of State for Security.
This report collects the activity to combat the illicit trafficking of narcotic substances carried out throughout 2020 by the National Police and the Guardia Civil, the three autonomous police with competence in citizen security (Mossos d’Esquadra, Ertzantza and Navarra Foral Police) and the Deputy Directorate of Customs Surveillance (DAVA) of the State Tax Administration Agency.
Of the total number of arrests made, 5,899 were for cocaine trafficking; 3,840 per cultivation of cannabis plants; 7,182 for marijuana trafficking; 6,938 for hashish trafficking; 1,474 for heroin trafficking, and the rest for synthetic drug trafficking.
69 percent of arrests for drug trafficking in 2020 (16,520) affected Spanish citizens; Regarding foreigners caught in anti-drug trafficking operations, the most common nationalities are Moroccan and Colombian. In 20,897 of the cases, the arrests involved men, and only in 3,217 cases were the detainees women.
SEIZURES
In 2020, 36,948 kilograms of cocaine were seized, a figure that represents a slight decrease (2.5 percent) compared to the previous year. Of the total, 8,355 kilograms were seized in seven vessels intercepted on the high seas, while the rest, for the most part, were found in transport containers upon arrival at Spanish ports. The largest seizures of this type were made in the ports of Barcelona, Valencia and Algeciras (Cádiz).
130 human couriers were also located that transported a total of 333 kilograms of cocaine, an amount that represents 1 percent of the total seized in 2020.
Regarding cannabis, last year 1,700,462 plants were seized, which represents a growth of 10.5 percent compared to the previous year and about 350 percent compared to 2015. Regarding its main derivative, marijuana, 70,073 kilograms were seized last year, a significant increase of 76 percent compared to 2019.
Regarding hashish, in 2020 473,925 kilograms were seized, 36 percent more than the previous year as a result of the Special Security Plan for the Campo de Gibraltar, which has allowed for greater police pressure on the organisations that operate on the so-called route of the Narrow.
Finally, the 179 kilograms of heroin seized last year confirms the downward trend detected in this drug, which was 23.5 percent compared to 2019.
