Brit, 69, arrested for 'smuggling 62kg of cannabis worth £350k' into Spain
A 69-year-old British man has been caught allegedly attempting to smuggle more than 62 kilos of cannabis worth £350k into Spain.
Listen to this article
The suspect was arrested after police found the stash in his car as he prepared to board a ferry at Spain’s North African enclave of Ceuta.
He is thought to have been travelling alone.
Cops allegedly found cannabis resin hidden in a "secret compartment" in the roof of his vehicle.
They grew suspicious when a sniffer dog reportedly detected the scent of the drugs.
More than 62 kilos of the drug were discovered in packages marked with various labels including Dream Gelato and Serial Milk.
The supply is understood to have an estimated street value of around £350,000.
The suspect, who remains unnamed, was arrested at around 6pm on Sunday.
His vehicle has been taken by the authorities while as he braces for a court appearance.
A spokesman for the Civil Guard in Ceuta said yesterday: "Around 6pm on Sunday officers from the First Fiscal and Border Company, along with colleagues from Ceuta’s Cynological Group who inspect vehicles preparing to embark on ferries heading to Algeciras, carried out a check on a UK-plated vehicle with a specialist sniffer dog that indicated the possibility there were drugs inside.
"A full check on the areas the specialist dog had marked as possible hiding places for the drugs subsequently took place.
"A total of 62.3 kilos of cannabis resin was discovered in a secret compartment in the roof of the vehicle."
"The driver, a British man born in 1956 who was registered as a UK resident, was subsequently arrested.
"The suspect will now go before a court in Ceuta as the suspected author of a crime of drug trafficking.
"The drugs have been seized and handed over to a central government delegation and the vehicle is now under the supervision of the courts."
It comes as a string of Brits have been arrested for alleged drug smuggling across various locations.
In June, British woman Cameron Bradford, 21, was arrested in Germany for allegedly smuggling cannabis from Thailand.
She faces at least four months in a German prison while authorities investigate the source of the drugs.
Meanwhile, three Brits face the death penalty in Indonesia for allegedly smuggling almost 1kg of cocaine into Bali.
Jonathan Christopher Collyer, 28, and Lisa Ellen Stocker, 29, were arrested in February after customs officers spotted suspicious food items in their luggage during X-ray scans.
Up to 10 sachets of Angel Delight powdered dessert mix were discovered in Collyer's luggage, a lab test later revealed.
Seven similar sachets were found in his Stocker's suitcase with 993.56 grams of cocaine.