QR Codes Used in Benidorm's Busy Areas to Sell Drugs to Tourists

The National Police have dismantled two criminal organisations involved in selling drugs to tourists in Benidorm. They plastered the town with QR codes, sticking them on lampposts, benches, poles, and urban furniture in the city's leisure areas. Once scanned, these codes allowed travellers to negotiate prices and arrange meetings to obtain narcotics.

The sales system, which required authorisation, followed a 'Quick response' technology protocol, where the buyer scanned the QR and accessed this messaging channel to arrange the meeting. The delivery was then made either through direct contact or by hiding the drugs in common urban areas.

In total, the security forces have arrested 20 people, including three women and 17 men. The detainees were divided into two gangs: one that sold drugs directly to travellers and another that supplied substances to the first gang and other groups, according to police sources.

The investigation began in February when officers found stickers with QR codes in Benidorm's leisure areas. Investigators quickly suspected that this system was designed to attract foreign holidaymakers in Spain. In fact, the distribution of these tickets indicated "premeditated planning," and their analysis led to a focus on a busy establishment among young foreigners, which had surveillance measures.

In the venue, they located an organisation led by a man who stored and guarded the drugs at his home. He was accompanied by a woman responsible for keeping the money at her house and other members with roles in recruitment, accompaniment, and surveillance.

The investigations uncovered a second, higher-level organisation with a clear hierarchy. This group supplied narcotics to the first gang and others, and had its own infrastructure for drug processing.

In the first phase, the National Police arrested eight people during two raids conducted both at the venue and the leader's residence. Nearly two kilograms of marijuana, over one kilogram of hashish, 628 grams of cocaine, half a kilogram of MDMA, 20 grams of crystal, 795 euros in cash, four mobile phones, drug preparation and distribution materials, lock-picking tools, and two vehicles were seized.

The second phase of the operation focused on the organisation supplying the drugs, arresting ten people in Benidorm. The security forces conducted three home searches and one in a storage room where they had a clandestine cocaine laboratory.

There, more than four kilograms of cocaine, nearly six of marijuana, close to five kilograms of hashish, as well as half a kilogram of MDMA/ecstasy, and 555 grams of cutting substance were seized. Additionally, over 5,500 euros in cash, 500 British pounds, a 9 mm semi-automatic weapon with several cartridges, a metal hydraulic press, three precision scales, multiple packaging and processing tools, and a car were confiscated.

The detainees are aged between 22 and 63 years. Eleven of them had previous records for other offences. All were brought before the Benidorm Magistrate's Court, which ordered the immediate imprisonment of three of the arrested individuals.