Seven people have been arrested after a thousand kilos of cocaine was found hidden in frozen fruit

Seven people have been arrested after a thousand kilos of cocaine was found hidden in frozen fruit pulp in a joint operation by the National Police and the Agencia Tributaria (Spain's tax and customs office). The consignment left Buenaventura in Colombia on December 12th and was transferred onto another ship at Balboa in Panama.  After crossing the Panama Canal, the shipment entered Spain via Algeciras on December 30th, where it was transferred again, boarding a boat for its ultimate destination, Bilbao, where it was unloaded in January. Later the same month, the containers were transported to Álava and then on to an industrial estate in Viana (Navarra) where the gang had rented a warehouse and where they were later caught red-handed by the police Apart from the drugs haul, with an estimated black market value of some 30 million euros, three cars have been confiscated, as well as 5,500 euros in cash, a number of computers and a considerable amount of documentation including forged passports. Agents involved in operation "Candela" as it was named, arrested five people in the warehouse in Viana, and then made additiona arrests in Málaga and Alicante. The cocaine was mixed with the fruit pulp by means of a chemical process and the traffickers had to carry out another chemical process to separate it again and prepare it for consumption.