Two Belgian-Moroccan families, consisting of four adults and eight children, were arrested by the Guardia Civil on Sunday in Ceuta for drug trafficking, Spanish media reported on Tuesday.
They were caught attempting to smuggle more than 200 kilos of hashish into Algeciras, southern Spain.
A first car with a Belgian number plate caught the attention of the border guards on Sunday afternoon as it queued up in Ceuta, a Spanish enclave in North Africa, to embark for Algeciras.
The sniffer dog intervened in the vehicle, which was carrying a 39-year-old Moroccan man with a Belgian work and residence permit. He was accompanied by a 29-year-old Belgian woman and four children.
When the vehicle was inspected , 115 kilos of hashish were discovered, hidden in double bottoms in various parts of the car.
Barely an hour later, a 48-year-old man and a 41-year-old woman, both Moroccans with Belgian work and residence permits, were arrested when the same officials discovered 87 kilos of drugs hidden in similar places in their vehicle. Four children were also in the car.
The adults were handed over to the examining magistrate. The eight children, aged between 1 and 15, are being temporarily housed in two child protection centres in Ceuta.
