The picturesque and isolated setting of El Cañuelo beach between Nerja and Almunecar in the Maro-Cerro Gordo natural park has been the scene of the latest failed drugged smuggling attempt on the coast. A few days ago agents from the Guardia Civil surprised two men from Malaga attempting to land their private pleasure boat at El Cañuelo. When confronted the alleged drug smugglers fled on foot, being arrested within a few minutes. The boat was found to contain 20 bails of cannabis weighing 700 kilos in total.
Back in November at the eastern end of Burriana beach the Gaurdia Civil intercepted an inflatable boat with 60 bales of cannabis on board, weighing 1.6 tonnes. Two young men were arrested in that operation.
In both cases the boats were detected by the Sistema Integrado de Vigilancia Exterior (SIVE) radar in the early morning and the boats were then followed by the Guardia Civil up to the point where they landed on the beaches. This part of the coast is attractive to drug smugglers, due to its long isolated beaches, seemingly ideal for making clandestine landings at night.