HUNDREDS of kilos of drugs are being smuggled into a Brit holiday hotspot by massive homemade drones.
A smuggling gang flew up to 200kg of cannabis across the Med from Morocco in a single night, dropping the narcotics near to popular Costa de la Luz resorts.
Dramatic footage shows heavily-armed Spanish officers smashing through doors where suspected smugglers were storing masses of drugs, before making several arrests.
Cops said they discovered the gang’s hideout after intercepting a new system of smuggling in Spain.
They detailed how drugs were dropped onto Spanish soil through drones from Africa before gang members grabbed the packages in the dead of night.
The criminals wore night vision goggles to help them see the lights they had stuck onto their packages.
They had even attached lights and set up a geolocation system to help them find their smuggled goods.
The daring operation, using drones that could fly more than 125 miles, was thwarted by Spanish police last week.
Cops say up to ten drones would be launched at the same time from Alcala de los Gazules, flying to Morocco to load up with narcotics.
They would then return to drop their contraband cargo in the Vejer de la Frontera area.
Vejer de la Frontera is a favourite with British holiday-makers, dubbed one of Spain’s most beautiful villages – and it’s normally very peaceful.
Nine people have been arrested as part of the police operation, codenamed Operation Ruche.
The suspects are thought to be Russian, Ukrainian and Latvian.
Police released dramatic footage of heavily armed officers catching the perpetrators.
Eight working drones have been seized along with another 10 that were being readied for use.
Police say several officers were injured and one needed surgery after they tried to intercept a vehicle that was carrying drugs brought in by the drones and a chase ensued.
The cannabis resin found inside the vehicle led to five raids taking place in various parts of the province of Cadiz earlier this week.
A spokesman for Spain’s National Police said: “The gang usually operated during the early hours when weather conditions were good.”
“They would put up 10 drones at the same time which would be flown to Morocco so they could be loaded with the drugs.
“During the return journey the drones released the drugs in the area of Vejer de la Frontera and Tarifa thanks to mechanisms made by specialists in the organisation.
“The people responsible for picking up the drugs would use night vision goggles to be able to detect more easily the fluorescent lights attached to the packages.
“The drugs were then taken to rented rural houses used as temporary storage facilities and the drones continued their journeys until they reached their start points in Alcala de los Gazelles and were recovered by other members of the gang.
“Drugs were being smuggled into Spain also daily, especially when winds were not strong.
“Although the generic structure and main parts were bought from Asian firms, they were then modified so they had greater autonomy and were more resident and could carry heavier loads.”
Eight people were arrested in this week’s raids, making a total of nine with the driver of the vehicle involved in the police chase who was previously held.