Agents of the National Police have seized more than 4,000 kilos of cocaine on a Panamanian-flagged fishing vessel west of the Canary coast. After boarding the ship, in which the Special Operations Group (GEO) had to participate, the fifteen crew members were arrested and one hundred bundles of cocaine weighing about 40 kilos each were located.
The investigation began in early November when the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) alerted that a criminal organization could carry out the transfer of a large amount of cocaine between two ships on the high seas. The suspected vessel, flying the Panamanian flag, had previously been sanctioned by the Panamanian authorities for committing serious infractions and had its fishing license revoked.
The fishing vessel had also been monitored by agents of the National Police in the Port of Vigo, as its activities were framed as suspected of being linked to drug trafficking.
With all the information available, an operation was initiated, under the direction of the Special Anti-Drug Prosecutor's Office of the National Court and the support of the Spanish Navy, to try to locate the fishing vessel that was located in Atlantic waters, 500 miles west of the Canary Islands.
With the support of the Spanish Navy's Atalaya vessel, on November 12, GEO agents together with one of the investigators carried out the boarding of the suspected vessel and arrested the 15 members of the crew and seized one hundred bundles of cocaine with an approximate weight of 4,000 kilograms.
