The Ministerio del Interior on Wednesday published the Centro de Inteligencia contra el Terrorismo y el Crimen Organizado (CITCO) compiled by the Estadística Anual sobre Drogas 2025 According to the report, last year in Spain 257 tonnes of Hachís were seized, an increase of 29 per cent on 2024. At the same time, cocaine seizures fell by 37 per cent. Seizures of all relevant substances totalled around 370 tonnes.
Alongside the large quantities of Hachís and cocaine, the authorities list numerous other seizures, including 875,000 cannabis plants, 658,000 ecstasy tablets, 679 kilograms of crystal (methamphetamine), and smaller quantities of other substances found on the illegal market, such as anabolic preparations or heroin. CITCO compiles the data from reports submitted by police forces.
The Ministry of the Interior attributes the fall in cocaine seizures to increased investigations and checks along maritime routes across the Atlantic In this interpretation, the statistics reflect successes against large-scale smuggling networks, for example on cargo ships and fast boats. This is an attribution by the authorities; it indicates the impact of policing measures on interception successes, but in itself says nothing about supply, demand or purity levels in the domestic market.
Despite the significant percentage increase, official assessments put Hachís seizures at the lower end of the historical time series. This indicates that smuggling routes and tactics are changing dynamically. Spain remains an important point of entry into the European Union – particularly for Hachís via the Strait of Gibraltar, and for cocaine via the Atlantic.
Security authorities stress that annual figures can be heavily influenced by a small number of major cases. Seizure statistics therefore primarily measure the effectiveness of law enforcement over a given period and only indirectly reflect market activity. CITCO and the police forces involved – in particular Policía Nacional and Guardia Civil – therefore point to multi-year assessments as a way to identify trends reliably.
The newly published Estadística Anual sobre Drogas 2025 provides an up-to-date reference point for assessing the drug situation in Spain. The coming months will show whether the fall in cocaine seizures and rise in Hachís seizures are structural or short-term fluctuations following individual operations.
Editor: Mira Cadena (Article created with AI assistance).