Overview

• Operation Spider has produced 81 detentions, the seizure of about 4.5 tonnes of cocaine and 59 searches across Valencia province and other locations, according to UDYCO.
• Eleven of 43 detainees presented Thursday were granted provisional release by Valencia’s Investigating Court No. 15, with additional arrests still being processed in the same case.
• The probe attributes at least 3,589 kilos to seven specific consignments, most extracted via the ‘gancho perdido’ method used to retrieve cocaine from contaminated containers.
• Eight infiltrated officers were so trusted that the network tasked them three times to recover shipments, and their work enabled a 1,140‑kilo seizure in Beneixida in December 2024 that led to the arrest of Guardia Civil captain Jesús Fernández Bolaño.
• Investigators describe a tiered scheme with foreign financiers including Balkan‑linked suspects, port ringleaders, stevedores, customs and transport intermediaries, union figures and other alleged facilitators tied to money‑laundering lines.