The Civil Guard released news on Thursday of a haul of 1.7 tons of cannabis which has been seized from a van which was bound for Holland, where the drugs were hidden in a false roof and false bottom fitted into the vehicle.

La Verdad newspaper reports that the drugs had also been treated to disguise the odour.

The investigation began in Melilla in January after officers intercepted a car loaded with 71 kilos of cannabis before it could board the ferry for Almería. Investigations then led detectives to discover that the Melilla-based network planned to send a larger consignment by van to Holland.

The van boarded the ferry in May, loaded with a cargo of furniture, and was kept under surveillance until it reached Almería, where it was handed over to three Dutch nationals for the journey to Holland.

The Civil Guard decided to make the bust when the vehicle stopped to refuel at a petrol station in Murcia and arrested the three suspects. It took officers five hours to strip the vehicle of the drugs which had been hidden inside the van.

The remaining four members of the network were arrested in Melilla last month. They are all Spanish residents of the Autonomous City.