Gangs in Barcelona are selling Mojitos to tourists which contain bug found in faeces raising fears of potential death among those buying them. Police have found ingredients that are kept in drains amid putrid conditions.
DEADLY E.coli has been found in festering ingredients stashed in drains by holiday beach cocktail sellers.
Spanish cops found vendors who sell the drinks to thirsty holidaymakers were storing their goods under filthy manhole covers.
Fearing an outbreak of the potentially deadly stomach bug, police have released a shocking video of officers in Barcelona lifting drains.
Inside are bottles, towels, straws, ice and glasses stored underground in putrid conditions.
Worse still, laboratory tests show some of the stash had traces of E.coli - bacteria from faeces which can cause gastroenteritis and death.
The sellers flog the cocktails for about £5 each on the city’s beaches but officers are now cracking down on the illegal trade.
The drinks are half the price of those sold at beach-front bars in upmarket Barcelona but tourists risk falling ill by drinking the cocktails.
Officers from the Nature Protection Service (Seprona) of the Guardia Civil of Barcelona and the Beaches Unit of the city’s Urban Guard, found the products hidden in public drain and sewers near beaches.
Benito Granados of Barcelona police, said the “added value” of this operation is that officers now “have the scientific confirmation that these products have a bacterium that can be dangerous”.
He said E.coli had been found in packages containing ice and mint, commonly used in Mojitos.
Among other ingredients seized was a green powder, with an unknown composition, that could be used to give flavour and colour to the drink.
Everything recovered was sent to the Department of Chemistry and Environment of the Criminalistics Service of the Guardia Civil for the analysis and preparation of the relevant reports.
The results confirmed that these substances “can be harmful due to the presence of E.coli bacteria”.
The revelation has prompted greater control measures in Barcelona, a popular holiday hotspot for British tourists.
Police have cracked down on the sale of the drinks from unlicensed vendors and have also arrested 18 suspects involved in the preparation of such cocktails.
Police sources confirmed they were from Romania, Pakistan and India.
The shocking findings follow warnings from the national police in Spain after cocktail ingredients were found in drains in Benidorm last month.
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