Spanish police raided a hideout in the town of Galicia in Malaga province of Spain. It was a successful drug bust operation which yielded three tons of the highly prohibited drug substance known as cocaine.

The authorities revealed that they arrested suspects they think belong to a major group of drug traffickers that are mainly operating in Costa del Sol. The raiding team which is composed of British and U.S. drug enforcement agencies recovered the illegal substance that the Britons are supposed to buy.

"It was a very powerful organization. Few organizations in Europe have the capacity today to transport three tonnes of cocaine," head of Spain's National Drug Organized Crime Unit Eloy Quiros said in news conference.

The confiscated cocaine that were being shipped from South America are estimated to have a price value of £500 million. Apparently, it was smuggled by the Dutch drug traffickers. Also found at the site are 1.2 million euros and some guns.

The 1,500 pounds of cocaine were kept hidden under a faux floor of the van. The police chased the criminals and the drug stash was discovered when the van they were riding in smashed into the police's car. The rest of the drugs were discovered in a warehouse located in Pontevedra, Galicia.

In a statement published on Daily Star UK, the spokesman of Spain's National Police relayed: "This is the biggest land seizure of cocaine by the National Police in Galicia since 1999. Three tons of cocaine that were going to be bought by an important Costa del Sol-based group of drug traffickers have been confiscated."

He added that, "There are 12 detainees including the transporters of the drugs who are Spanish and the sellers and buyers of the drugs who are Dutch and British respectively."

Seven British smugglers have since been detained in Malaga province. The rest of the suspects, three Dutch nationals and two Spaniards, were held in a different place.

The Britons are being viewed as the buyers, the dutch as the sellers and the Spaniards as the shippers. The bunch of cocaine was delivered by boat.

In the past, Spain's Costa del Sol is a known hiding place for British criminals. The criminal activities were at the peak in the late 70s and 80s because the extradition agreement with Britain was nonexistent in that era.

Things have dramatically changed when the European arrest warrants were introduced in 2004. The treaty made the task of bringing home British criminals possible. Most importantly, justice could be served since they are forced to come home and face their offenses.