A criminal gang in southern Spain used drones to monitor for police as shipments of hashish arrived.

12 suspects from the gang were recently arrested in the town of La Linea de la Concepcion, which lies next to Gibraltar. That gang are suspected of using UAVs to watch out for police as shipments of hashish were unloaded onto the port.

As a tactic to avoid detection, eyes high in the sky in the form of drones is an excellent method for gaining a heads up when police are on their way to bust you. They obviously have their limits, however, in this case, UAVs were unable to prevent authorities from eventually catching and busting the gang (curse that limited battery life, eh?).

The gang is believed to have brought in at least 12 tonnes of hash from Morocco to Spain which has a street value of some $5.7 million.

“Some of those who were arrested were highly trained in the use of unmanned drones, which were used when a boat full of hashish neared the coast to land, in order to monitor a possible police presence.” – Local police statement

Police raids on the gang seized radio frequency inhibitors and high-end smartphones. The drone models they used to detect for police are unknow.

The ten men and two women were all Spanish nationals. Morocco is one of the main sources of cannabis smuggled into Europe.

La Linea de la Concepcion in Gibraltar, Spain.

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