Drug trafficking in Spain is evolving rapidly. While recently released 2020 data lists the seizure in 2019 of a staggering 1.5 million marijuana plants, almost 38 tons of cocaine and nearly 350 tons of hashish along with 20,437 arrests , drug traffickers are becoming masters at adapting to new circumstances, including those of the pandemic. This is due in part to the broad-based criminal activities of the Eastern European mafias and the marijuana mega-boom. The narco has ditched his iconic underworld status and the monikers that go with it, and embraced anonymity in a bid to keep trade on track.
Arrests for drug trafficking in Spain increased by 12.3% in 2019