Overview
- French port inspectors flagged a suspicious container from Mexico in early June, which prompted a cross‑border probe by France’s OFAST and Spain’s Policía Nacional.
- Spanish police carried out coordinated raids on July 10–11 across Lleida, Barcelona and Tarragona that led to 13 arrests and the judicial remand of 12 suspects.
- Officers found a purpose‑built clandestine laboratory in a rural finca in Almenar where investigators say meth was chemically extracted, purified and crystallized from liquid vanilla.
- Authorities seized roughly 2.4–2.5 tonnes of methamphetamine overall, including about 1.6 tonnes still dissolved in the vanilla, plus vehicles, cash and industrial chemical equipment.
- Officials characterize the group as an itinerant branch linked to the Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación that exploited legitimate logistics hubs; follow‑on probes will examine company links, routes and where the drug was destined in Europe.