900 kilograms of cocaine thrown into the sea from a speedboat after being caught near the Canary Islands

The pursuit, in complicated weather conditions, lasted for more than six hours, but the attempt to stash the drugs was finally thwarted.

June 26 2024 (17:10 WEST)
Updated in June 26 2024 (20:22 WEST)
900 kilograms of cocaine thrown into the sea
900 kilograms of cocaine thrown into the sea

The Customs Surveillance Service of the Tax Agency has carried out a joint operation with the National Police and the Civil Guard in which they have intercepted around 900 kilograms of cocaine near the Canary Islands. The Spanish services received intelligence information from the services of the British National Crime Agency (NCA) and the DEA, channeled through the Maritime Anti-Narcotics Analysis Center in the Atlantic and the Intelligence Center against Terrorism and Organized Crime.

After the analysis carried out by the Spanish police and customs services, they activated the Fulmar vessel of Customs Surveillance to try to locate and intervene the vessel, which presumably transported a significant amount of cocaine to Spain.

The crew of the Fulmar, in the early morning of Saturday the 22nd, located the semi-rigid boat, which, when discovered, began to flee, with "a significant amount of bundles" of those commonly used for cocaine trafficking.

The pursuit, in complicated weather conditions, lasted for more than six hours, but the attempt to stash the drugs was finally thwarted. According to the note issued by the Civil Guard this Wednesday, the crew of the speedboat threw the cargo, a total of 30 bundles with about 900 kilos of cocaine, which were recovered by the SVA officials.

The pursuit ceased after throwing the merchandise into the sea. At that moment, the speedboat headed towards La Palma, where the following day a boat appeared abandoned on a beach in Tazacorte. The Civil Guard points out that, "almost certainly, it corresponded to the one that fled after being chased by the Special Operations Vessel".

All these events have been brought to the attention of the Anti-Drug Prosecutor's Office of the National Court, which has sent the proceedings to the Duty Court to continue the investigations, take statements from the crew of the semi-submersible and try to identify those of the semi-rigid boat.

The success of this type of action is the result of the collaborative work between various European and national organizations (MAOC, CITCO) and the different Spanish police and customs forces, as well as, in this case, the cooperation of the DEA and the NCA.

 

Semi-submersible vessel

Three days later, officials from the Customs Surveillance Service of the Tax Agency, in a joint operation with the National Police and the Civil Guard, have carried out the interception of a semi-submersible that was heading to the coasts of the Peninsula. The operation, carried out by the Fulmar vessel, has concluded with the arrest of the four crew members of the device, of Colombian nationality, who were rescued after sinking the vessel 280 miles west of the coast of Cádiz, before the approach of the 'Fulmar'.

The Customs Surveillance vessel was already loaded with the drugs seized in the other operation. The investigators point out that the vessel has characteristics similar to those of other 'narco-boats' located in previous operations, and due to the place of the intervention, as well as the way of acting of the detained crew, it is presumed that it was transporting cocaine on board.

The operation begins on the 24th, when information is received from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) of the USA, which indicates a possible transshipment point between an unknown target and a presumably semi-rigid vessel in an area where the Customs Surveillance Service already maintained intensified surveillance by satellite means and towards where the 'Fulmar' was already sailing to optimize the return journey to port.

On the morning of the 25th, about 280 miles west of Cádiz, the Special Operations Vessel locates a semi-submersible of 20 meters in length by its bow, similar to those already located in the Aldán estuary in 2019 and in the Arousa estuary in 2023.

The crew of the device, at the moment they perceive the proximity of the vessel, open the bottom taps and come to the surface to get to safety. The semi-submersible floods in minutes and sinks with its cargo to the bottom of the sea. The four Colombian crew members are rescued and arrested by the crew of the 'Fulmar'.

Semisumergible interceptado en el Atlántico
Semisumergible interceptado en el Atlántico

 

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