MADRID, Aug. 20 (Xinhua) -- Spanish police on Monday confirmed the seizure of over three tons of hashish hidden in a building in La Linea de la Concepcion, south-western Spain.

The Spanish interior ministry said 3,000 kg of the drug was wrapped in 101 packets and kept in a house used to store drugs smuggled into Spain from Morocco across the Strait of Gibraltar.

The operation also led to the arrest of the person guarding the drugs.

The ministry said the operation began when the police became aware of the storehouse due to the large movement of people and vehicles known for collecting drugs brought over from North Africa in speedboats.

The police were able to identify the person who looked after the drugs and detain him after a brief chase.

The ministry said that another operation carried out in the region led to police preventing a "drop-off" of drugs shipped across the Strait of Gibraltar and seizing four high-range, four-wheel-drive vehicles, "which had been stolen from various cities across Spain", and prepared to transport drugs "from the beach to the storehouses".

The interior ministry described these operations as "a blow to the infrastructure and logistics which the gangs dedicated to drug trafficking in the Campo de Gibraltar region use".

These operations come just two days after a further seven tons of hashish were seized and 11 people were arrested in an operation in the nearby towns of Marbella and Estepona.

The south-west coast of Spain is the main gateway into Europe for hashish cultivated in Morocco and other North African countries.