Hotspot island smashes souvenir hawkers for selling tourists crack | World | News

Spanish cops have smashed a large drug operation targeting British tourists in the Canary Islands, where souvenir sellers were also offering holidaymakers crack cocaine, ecstasy, ketamine, and designer drugs.

55 men were arrested across several locations in a joint operation by National Police and local officers in Tenerife, the archipelago’s largest and most popular destinations for sun-seeking Brits.

Investigators uncovered the ring after spotting a repeat tactic of the dealers, pretending to sell sunglasses, watches, and souvenirs while hiding dangerous drugs in public places, including benches and bushes. This practice makes it harder for offenders to be caught with their product on them.

One of the main high-footfall areas targeted by the police crackdown was the infamous Las Veronicas strip in Playa de las Americas, the same area where 19-year-old Brit Jay Slater partied the night before his tragic disappearance and death in June 2024.

At the Lancashire teen’s inquest, toxicology expert Dr Stephanie Martin said traces of cocaine, ecstasy, and ketamine were found in his blood after his death.

A convicted drug dealer who was with Jay that night told the Preston coroner that he had “popped a pill” and “had a bit of sniff”, before his doomed walk through a treacherous national park.

The Canarian Weekly reports that all 55 men arrested in Tenerife for allegedly selling narcotics to tourists, all aged 25 to 40, have previous convictions for drug offences. They were all apprehended between April and July in a targeted crackdown on areas popular with holidaymakers.

In total, the Canarian said the investigation took off the streets: 29 doses of crack, 22 doses of MDMA, 38 doses of cocaine, 10 doses of ketamine, 56 ecstasy tablets, 18 packets of hashish, and 114 single doses of marijuana.

Spanish police said the dealers would mainly target young British tourists on beaches and in party hotspots, with many arrests also made on Tenerife’s Fañabé seafront and Avenida España.

They added that this operation aimed to protect both residents, tourists and the island’s reputation as a safe destination for British holidaymakers.