Over 26 tons of hashish seized by Spanish police

Spanish police seized over 26 metric tons (30 U.S. tons) of hashish at the southern port of Algeciras on Monday.The drugs were found hidden in a shipment of 22 large wooden boxes of frozen sardines, which had come across the Mediterranean from the Moroccan port of Tangiers, said spokesman Salvador Gomez of the Algeciras Civil Guard.

The weight of the drugs made this one of the biggest busts to date in Spain, Gomez said.

Authorities detained a 36-year-old person suspected of having ties with a trucking company. The person was not identified by name. The bust was part of a long-term observation strategy involving a transport company that regularly moved cargo between Spain and Morocco.

A drugs raid at the same port in 2003 netted 25.5 metric tons (28 U.S. tons) of hash, and a 1996 bust in the northwestern region of Galicia uncovered 36 metric tons (40 U.S. tons) of the drug. A.M.