Spanish police have seized four tonnes of cocaine from a fishing boat near the Canary Islands, and all 15 crew members have been arrested, Spanish authorities said today.
Police intercepted a Panamanian-flagged vessel in the Atlantic Ocean on Tuesday, 900 kilometres from the Canary Islands, the Spanish Interior Ministry said in a statement.
The police, together with the Navy, found around 100 packages of 40 kilograms of cocaine.
The operation was carried out on the basis of information provided to Spain by the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), which stated in early November that “a certain criminal organisation was preparing to transfer a large quantity of cocaine”.
In early October, Spanish police intercepted another shipment of four tonnes of cocaine, also on a ship sailing under the Tanzanian flag, while in mid-February, also near the Canary Islands, the same quantity of drugs was seized on small boats.
In mid-October, Spanish police seized 13 tons of cocaine hidden in a container of bananas. Police said at the time that it was the largest drug seizure in Spanish history.
Photo: Guarda Civil
