Agents of the National Police and the Customs Surveillance Service of the Tax Agency, in a joint operation with the American agency DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration), the Judiciária Police of Portugal and the Federal Police of Brazil, have achieved the intervention of more than 3,300 kilos of cocaine after the boarding, by the Special Operations Vessel 'Petrel' of Customs Surveillance, of a fishing vessel 1,000 miles west of the Canary Islands.
The 10 crew members of the vessel have been arrested - of Venezuelan flag - which could not withstand the towing to port due to the precarious conditions in which it was. In the operation, which was directed by the Special Anti-Drug Prosecutor's Office, 110 bundles of cocaine of about 30 kilos each have been seized.
The investigation began in mid-November, thanks to international police cooperation, when agents received information from the American agency DEA. This warned that an international criminal organization intended to transport a large amount of cocaine across the Atlantic Ocean.
The mother ship was a fishing vessel, with a Venezuelan flag, which allegedly had already departed from some point on the South American coast towards the Spanish coasts. From that moment, agents of the National Police and the Customs Surveillance Service of the Tax Agency coordinated their actions to intercept the vessel as soon as possible.
A few days later, the DEA reported that the vessel was sailing in order to transfer the drug it was carrying to another fishing vessel, probably of Spanish flag, which would be fishing in the area to which it was heading. Intelligence work allowed to conclude that, once the drug was in the receiving ship, it would set course to the Spanish coasts for the unloading of the same.
At the end of November, agents of the National Police and the Customs Surveillance Service of the Tax Agency - under the direction of the Special Anti-Drug Prosecutor's Office of the National Court and with the support of officials of the Customs Surveillance Service of the Tax Agency - coordinated the operation aimed at locating the investigated vessel.
Once the alert was received, the course of the fishing vessel was provided and the modus operandi of the crew was known, the early interdiction was designed as the most effective scenario to prevent the drug from being diverted in a diversified way to Spain and, therefore, ensure the seizure of cocaine.
110 bundles of 30 kilos of cocaine each located on board
Finally, on November 29, the Special Operations Vessel 'Petrel' of Customs Surveillance detected a vessel, sailing without lights and heading to Spain, which, due to its characteristics, suggested that it was the fishing vessel being sought.
Once intercepted, the agents verified that the crew was throwing overboard a series of packages compatible with those usually used for drug transport.
Once on board, the crew of the 'Petrel' located a total of 110 bundles of narcotics - of about 30 kilos each - whose total weight exceeded 3,300 kilos. Also, the agents arrested its 10 crew members - all of them of Venezuelan nationality, except for a Colombian citizen-.
Given the precarious conditions in which the vessel was - which had at least two open leaks, making it impossible to tow it to port - and the danger it posed to the people on board, it was proceeded to its sinking. On the other hand, the detainees and the seized drug were transferred to the Port of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
