The eight-tonne cocaine haul is one of the largest ever intercepted in Spain.
ADVERTISEMENTSpanish police have seized eight tonnes of cocaine hidden in a fake power generator at the southern port of Algeciras.
According to the Minsitry of Finance, the shipping container containing the drugs had been transported from Suriname to Panama and then onwards to Algeciras, a route carefully chosen to avoid detection.
TRhe was expected to continue its route onwards to Leixoes, a port on the north-western coast of Portugal, before being transported by road into Spain.
The cocaine haul is one of the largest intercepted in Spain in recent years.
The fake generator in which the drug was stashed was designed to avoid scanner detection, but customs agents said they had forced open the metal structure after detecting a "large amount of merchandise perfectly stacked in pallets."
It was then that they found the eight-tonne stash of cocaine packed in 7,000 parcels.
The Spanish authorities said they had been able to intercept the drug haul despite the "innovative system" the traffickers had used to try to bypass scanner detention, as well as the complex choice of route.
They also say it is the first time they have encountered such a sophisticated method of hiding an illicit drug shipment.
Three people are being investigated as part of the ongoing probe into the drug consignment. One of them, the person due to receive the shipment in Spain, has been arrested.
One of the three suspects, who is the owner of the company due to receive the merchandise, is currently wanted for arrest.