Spanish police arrest three in Seville over AK-47 and anti-tank rocket launcher

Weapons recovered from a street bag

Spanish National Police arrested three people in the province of Seville on suspicion of possessing and trafficking weapons of war. During the operation, officers recovered an AK-47 assault rifle and an M80 anti-tank rocket launcher, which police believe were intended for criminal organisations linked to drug trafficking. Police said the suspects fled when they noticed the officers and threw a bag onto a public road, where investigators picked it up from a street in the Tiro de Línea neighbourhood of Seville. The bag held the AK-47, chambered at 7.62 millimetres, and the M80, a 64 millimetre launcher that the force classes as a weapon of military use. Officers stressed that the launcher was in working condition when it was seized. The two occupants of the vehicle were eventually intercepted and detained.

How the investigation unfolded

The inquiry began in June 2026, when officers learned of a possible network dealing in weapons of war. Early inquiries identified several people based in Dos Hermanas who allegedly acted as intermediaries between arms suppliers and potential buyers. Investigators determined that one of the main suspects arranged those contacts and that an assault rifle could fetch about 6,000 euros per unit on the illegal market. In October 2026, officers placed one of the main suspects under surveillance, and that watch detected a vehicle trip with another person, which led to the chase. One local report describes the probe as lasting several months before the arrests.

Raids, arrests and the police assessment

A third person was later detained in connection with the intermediation of the weapons. As a follow-up, officers carried out four house searches, three in Dos Hermanas and one in Seville. The three detained people were placed at the disposal of the investigating court on duty in Dos Hermanas, and the articles report no charges or convictions at this stage. The Policía Nacional announced the results on Wednesday, 4 November 2026, saying the investigation had identified channels for trading weapons of war allegedly destined for criminal organisations linked to drug trafficking. Police called the seizure of the anti-tank launcher "especial relevancia", noting that its destructive capacity poses a significant risk to public safety. Separately, the Prosecutor General's Office has warned in its annual reports that violence by drug networks in Spain is increasingly visible, with traffickers in some situations prepared to use weapons of war, sometimes against police officers.