Reported by GhanaCrimes Newsroom·2 min read
Spanish authorities have seized 2,600 kilogrammes of cocaine concealed in two shipping containers that were loaded at the Port of Tema and shipped to the Port of Valencia, according to a press release issued on Wednesday 11 November 2026 by Spain's Tax Agency and Civil Guard, and.
According to the Spanish authorities, the containers were loaded at Tema on 2 August 2026 and arrived in Valencia on 22 August aboard a container ship. The cargo was declared as coconuts. Customs officers selected the containers for inspection after assessing them as high risk during routine international trade controls.
Investigators found the cocaine hidden beneath false bottoms built into the wooden boxes used to carry the coconuts, rather than inside the coconuts themselves, the release said.
The containers were then kept under surveillance as the cargo was moved from the Valencia docks into two refrigerated trucks and driven to a warehouse on the La Juaida industrial estate in Viator, in the province of Almería. Two men were arrested there: the Spanish authorities described them as the importer of the goods and the person responsible for unloading them. They have not been publicly named in the reports.
The operation involved the Valencia and Almería operational units of Spain's Customs Surveillance service and the Civil Guard's organised crime and fiscal and border investigation units in Valencia. Spain's Tax Agency said inquiries were continuing into the suspects' possible links to money-laundering networks and other logistics points in Spain.
Spanish authorities have not named any Ghanaian suspects or said whether any arrests have been made in Ghana. Ghana's Narcotics Control Commission had not publicly commented on the seizure at the time of publication.
The seizure is the latest involving cargo shipped from Ghana. In September 2026, French customs seized nearly 3.9 tonnes of cocaine hidden in a container of plastic waste from Ghana at the port of Dunkirk, which led to arrests and court proceedings in Ghana.
