Seven British citizens were arrested in Spain for hashish trafficking in an operation that led to the seizure of 1.2 tons of the drug, which is made from cannabis resin, the Spanish Ministry of the Interior reported on Saturday.

“National Police agents, in collaboration with the National Crime Agency (NCA) of the UK, have dismantled an organization allegedly dedicated to transporting drugs in trucks in Marbella and Elche,” the ministry stated in a press release.

“Agents seized 1,200 kilos of hashish and arrested seven British citizens,” the report specified.

The drugs were found in Marbella and Fuengirola, in southern Spain, as well as in Elche, in the southeastern region.

Part of the hashish was hidden in “large plastic barrels filled with fine mortar sand.”

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In addition, the police seized over €63,000 in cash, five passenger vehicles, and a heavy-duty truck.

All of the detainees have been placed in pretrial detention.

Spain serves as the gateway for most of the hashish sold in Europe, due to its proximity to North Africa, the main production area.

In 2022, Spain seized 324.7 tons of hashish, according to the latest available official annual data.

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Fourteen members of the Mexican Sinaloa drug cartel were arrested in Spain following an investigation that began with the kidnapping and murder of an associate, the Spanish National Police announced on Sunday.

“The dismantled criminal network, based in Catalonia, is allegedly involved in the kidnapping and death of a man whose body was found in a wooded area of the region,” explained the National Police in a statement. The victim had traveled from Italy to meet with some of the leaders of the gang.

The criminal organization was “mainly composed of Mexican individuals” and was “linked to the Mexican Sinaloa cartel.”

The victim, a 46-year-old man, was allegedly working for the organization and had traveled to Barcelona from Italy to meet with leaders of the criminal network. The kidnapping took place between late May and June, and the victim’s family in Kosovo alerted the police after receiving a ransom demand of €240,000 (approximately $253,000). The family paid part of the ransom, $32,000 in cryptocurrency.

The victim’s body, whose nationality was not disclosed, was found in August in a forest, showing signs of violence and in an advanced state of decomposition.

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The arrested individuals are allegedly connected to drug trafficking, money laundering, kidnapping, and murder. They received packages from Mexico containing methamphetamine soaked into pieces of clothing, which were sent to Catalonia. Once in Spain, they extracted the drug in a laboratory they operated.

The Sinaloa cartel is named after the northwestern Mexican state where it was founded and remains one of the most important criminal organizations in the world, despite the incarceration of two of its historic leaders, Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán and Ismael “Mayo” Zambada, in the United States.

The Spanish government cabinet announced on Sunday that Pedro Sánchez, the Prime Minister, will appear before the Congress to explain the management of the flooding that occurred on October 29, which resulted in 226 deaths, many of which, according to one minister, were “avoidable.”

“The government will submit a request for Sánchez to appear before Congress on Monday to report on the management of the Spanish government during the floods and heavy rains in Valencia and other parts of Spain,” the Moncloa Palace informed.

As Sánchez will attend the G-20 summit in Brazil later this week, the appearance could take place during the plenary session on November 27, it was added.

The central government is led by the left-wing while the government of Valencia is governed by the right-wing, setting the stage for political tension regarding the handling of the floods.

The announcement of Sánchez’s appearance comes two days after the one made on Friday by Carlos Mazón, the regional president of Valencia from the conservative People’s Party (PP), in the Valencian Courts.

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Mazón admitted “failures” in his management but shifted the blame for the damage caused by the floods to state-dependent agencies, such as the Meteorological Agency (Aemet) and the agency managing the Júcar River, accusing them of providing “fragmented, inaccurate, and delayed” information.