An abandoned forklift and a fallen pallet led a local police officer to discover cocaine inside an industrial unit in the El Labradorcico industrial estate in Águilas, Murcia. The Guardia Civil later found a second warehouse. The total haul was provisionally estimated at between 5 and 10 tonnes, information from EL ESPAÑOL, citing sources close to the investigation. The discovery was made on 30 October 2026, and Guardia Civil units secured the industrial estate the following day.
More than 5,000 kilos had been counted in the first unit by 1 November, while the combined amount in the two warehouses was estimated at up to 10,000 kilos. The first warehouse reportedly held between 300 and 400 pallets. Officers were still removing the material and weighing it, so the final quantity had not been established.
The discovery began on Friday morning after workers alerted the Policía Local to an unusual scene. A worker had reportedly left the warehouse after a pallet fell, abandoning the forklift near the open entrance. No employees were there when an officer arrived to check whether there had been an accident at work.
The officer inspected the fallen pallet and found what appeared to be cocaine bricks packed in boxes. The warehouse had no sign identifying its activity, but a closed-circuit camera system was installed inside. The Guardia Civil took over the investigation and searched a second unit in the same industrial estate. On 31 October, officers set up cordons and removed large boxes and pallets from at least one warehouse.
Investigators were trying to establish who owned the premises and whether they had been rented. Sources cited by EL ESPAÑOL said the warehouses may have been used by an international criminal organisation, with suspicions pointing to an Albanian group. That identification had not been confirmed. The investigation was under judicial secrecy, and the Delegación del Gobierno in Murcia said it could not provide further details while the proceedings remained secret.
The same sources estimated the cocaine’s value at about €15,000 per kilo on the black market, putting a 10-tonne load at around €150 million. They described the substance as pure. People linked to the investigation supplied estimates for the tonnage, purity and value.
EL ESPAÑOL also reported that one Moroccan citizen had been detained and that searches were under way when its account was published. Police were examining security footage and the cocaine’s packaging, which investigators said could offer clues about the group involved. Local reporting has described the wider Águilas coastline as a logistical area for criminal groups involved in narcolancha activity, including the transport of fuel and drugs.
According to preliminary investigative estimates, the load may have been intended for road distribution within Spain and to other European countries. The case remains distinct from the Valencia investigation into alleged plans to use Molotov cocktails described in an earlier report. In Águilas, investigators were also examining whether the warehouses’ apparent logistics activity could have concealed the movement of drugs in lorries.
