The Spanish Civil Guard seizes almost 1,200 kilos of hashish hidden in the cooling system of a truck transporting fruit to Italy

The Spanish Civil Guard has located almost 1,200 kg of hashish that was transported hidden inside the cooling mechanism of a truck that transported fruit and vegetables on an international route.

The discovery took place during a verification point in a polygon in La Muela (Zaragoza). In it, a truck made a suspicious maneuver when it noticed the police presence, which is why it was immediately detained. The driver was identified, who had a police record for events related to crimes against public health, and the merchandise was searched. The vehicle, which was carrying out international transportation of perishable products to Italy, was inspected with a narcotics detection dog that marked the presence of drugs in a place located near the end of the semi-trailer and the tractor cabin.

Due to the number of pallets with food products that were in the truck, it was moved to a nearby warehouse to be able to extract the load with a mechanical bull and verify the possible existence of a double bottom that housed the drugs.  Once all of the merchandise had been extracted, the dog marked again in the same place as it did on the first occasion, in which the agents observed a manipulated compartment that should house the cooling system.  After opening it, it was found that there was no cooling engine but rather a cavity inside which there were a multitude of transparent hermetic bags containing hashish tablets. All of them were impregnated with some liquid, possibly to avoid giving off the smell that dogs specialized in searching for narcotic substances detect.

Once the extraction and weighing of the intervened substance was carried out, it amounted to 1,156.5 kilos, distributed in 224 hashish tablets. The driver was arrested for an alleged crime against public health for drug trafficking. This person was also prohibited from leaving the national territory.

Delivery of food products to the Food Bank

Given the large amount of perishable food transported by the investigated truck, the Civil Guard took the appropriate steps to deliver this merchandise to the Food Bank. In total there were 13 tons of fruits and vegetables (six pallets of oranges, one of potatoes, one of onions, one of lemons and another of tomatoes).Citizen Security personnel from the Casetas company, the Calatayud Traffic detachment and the Cynological Group of the Civil Guard have participated in the device with a drug detection dog.