Brit mother and daughter arrested in Spain for attempting to smuggle 42kg of cocaine

A British mother and daughter duo have reportedly been arrested at a Spanish airport after police found 42 kilogrammes of cocaine inside their luggage. The mother and daughter, aged 47 and 19, allegedly posed as tourists visiting Valencia over Holy Week, and were discovered trying to fly home to Birmingham with the drugs.

A Holy Week drugs bust

The pair were caught by Spanish police at the Manises Airport in Valencia at 11:00 on the evening of Thursday, April 2. Inside their two suitcases, officials found around 23 sealed packets of cocaine as well as multiple tablets, according to reports from local media. The mother and daughter had spent three days in Valencia.

After the drugs were discovered, the pair were detained in a local jail and later appeared before a judge in Quart de Poblet, a municipality near Valencia’s Manises Airport. However, police have not yet made any official comment on the outcome of the hearing or if the mother and daughter have been charged. An official statement is expected soon.

Similar incident involving Guardia Civil

The incident follows a similar situation in which a Guardia Civil officer and a civilian accomplice were sentenced to four years in prison after being found guilty of trafficking cocaine from within the Guardia Civil headquarters in Melilla. The conviction followed a thorough investigation that identified repeated instances of trafficking drugs.

Spain ranks among the top countries for consumption of cocaine in 2025

Last year, Spain was ranked as one of the top countries for cocaine consumption, according to a BBC Mundo report. The report involved analysis of surveys of the population, as well as analysis of wastewater.

According to the 2025 European Drug Report, 13.3 per cent of Spaniards between the ages of 15 and 64 have used cocaine at least once in their lives, which is the highest figure in the EU. This is well above the 9.4 per cent in France and Denmark, and the 8 per cent in the Netherlands.

Outside the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, and the United States join Spain in the rankings of the largest consumers of this drug.

In 2023, Spanish police seized some 118 tonnes of cocaine, more than a quarter of the 419 total tonnes seized across the EU and second only to the 123 tonnes seized in Belgium.