A British tourist travelling from Benidorm to Ibiza has been arrested after police discovered nearly £300,000 worth of cocaine in his car.
The 27-year-old holidaymaker was apprehended after trying to board a ferry from the Costa Blanca resort of Denia to the Balearic island. Cops said he reacted to an initial stop by handing them a bottle with a small amount of cannabis resin inside in an apparent attempt to throw them off the scent. They discovered the seven kilos of cocaine during a full search in the storage compartment between the two front seats.
Video footage of the drug discovery released by the Civil Guard showed an officer hauling the narcotics which had a lizard logo on them out of the ‘hidden compartment’ and the Brit being taken away in handcuffs in a T-shirt and shorts. Well-placed sources said today the cocaine had a potential street value of around £280,000 and would have fetched a higher price in islands like Ibiza than on the Spanish mainland.
Another said: “He was a British man who was going from Benidorm to Ibiza on the car ferry. We’re still investigating if he was intending to sell the drugs himself or hand them over to someone else when he reached his destination.”
The unnamed Brit is now languishing in prison following a first court appearance in front of an investigating magistrate who is conducting an ongoing criminal probe.
Further arrests have not been ruled out. In a statement revealing the detention, where the suspect was described only as a tourist and his nationality was not released, a spokesman for the Civil Guard in Alicante said: “Officers have arrested a 27-year-old man in the port of Denia after seizing seven kilos of cocaine hidden in a secret compartment in a car centre console.
“The driver spontaneously handed over a bottle with two grams of cannabis resin during a first stop which resulted in a more exhaustive search of his vehicle.
“He was identified as a tourist who was heading to Ibiza in a car registered to a person who is a resident in the Balearic Islands. The secret compartment where the drugs were stored, in six vacuum-packed bags, was prised open and just over seven kilos of cocaine were extracted from inside.”
The spokesman added: “The drugs were seized along with the vehicle. The detainee was remanded in custody following a court appearance.”
The Civil Guard spokesman added: “Detectives are continuing work on trying to discover the origin and final destination of the cocaine and further arrests have not been ruled out.”