Bull Run drugs ring uncovered

A drugs haul scheduled due to be sold during the San Fermon bull running festival has been uncovered by police just days before the festival is due to start.

Police uncovered four drug rings that smuggled speed, cocaine, marihjuana, ketamine and methamphetamines and arrested 29 people in the north of Spain on Tuesday. Police also seized cars, guns and knives and around €65,000 in cash during the operation.

Police said in a statement: “The drugs were going to be distributed in Pamplona during the San Fermin festival. While each organisation operated independently, they were in contact with each other.” Police also confirmed that some of the haul had been brought in from India on flights that arrived in Madrid.

The festival, which starts in Pamplona on Sunday, lasts for nine days and attracts huge numbers of visitors to the area. Best known for the annual running of the bulls every morning, where both tourists and locals test their metal by trying to outrun six fighting bulls in the street, the festival also features live concerts and 24 hour drinking sessions.

The bull run attracts negative publicity from around the world each year from animal rights activists protesting at animal cruelty and the run has claimed 15 lives during the last 103 years.