Spanish police have seized three underwater drones designed to smuggle drugs.
The sting, which included eight arrests, came after a 14-month operation into the ring, which involved self-driving vessels that have the capacity to hold 200kg of cargo over the strip of sea that connects southern Spain to Morocco.
The police said: "These devices could allow drug traffickers to transport large quantities of narcotics remotely across the Strait of Gibraltar.”
One of the devices was built to completion while the other two were in progress. They had GPS trackers attached to them, so they could be driven by a remote user with a tablet. They are believed to be a part of a scheme involving a drug gang in France seeking to smuggle cocaine.
Along with the drones, authorities confiscation six aerial drones, 14kg of hashish, 8kg of marijuana and £135 527 (about R3 million) in cash.
Two of the men arrested were a father and son duo. Police said one of the duo was a qualified helicopter pilot able to make those kinds of devices.
Authorities also claimed that the group were particularly adept at creating a fleet of vehicles able todrive, fly or float in water.
Last year, Spanish police captured a home-made submarine – made out of plywood and fibreglass. It had the capability of transporting two tonnes of drugs in Malaga. Police arrested 52 people from across the country following a drug raid.
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