Police in Spain have arrested 30 people accused of smuggling cannabis that was disguised as aid for Ukraine.

Ukrainians, Spaniards, Germans and Moroccans were among those held in the Andalusia region.

The drugs came from across the southern region, were packaged in cardboard boxes, and travelled in convoys through several countries, police said.

The seizure comes a month after Spanish police announced the largest haul of cannabis ever found in the country.

In a statement on Monday, the Guardia Civil police force said police became suspicious after identifying a group of Ukrainians on the Costa del Sol collecting cannabis and storing it in a flat in Mijas, near Malaga.

The drugs were packed in vacuum bags and placed in cardboard boxes on vans registered in Ukraine, which proceeded to travel “as a solidarity convoy so they could pass under the radar of police and border controls”, it said.

In raids in Malaga province and in the southern cities of Granada, Cordoba and Seville, police seized nearly €800,000 (£690,000; $847,000), six guns and 2,500 cannabis plants.

Thousands of people across Europe have been involved in efforts to alleviate the suffering of Ukrainian civilians since Russia launched an invasion of its neighbour on 24 February.