The cocaine haul seized in the Canary Islands amounts to almost ten tons, the largest in Europe at sea

The freighter seized by the Spanish Police and Navy 535 kilometers off the Canary Islands with the collaboration of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) was carrying the largest cocaine haul seized to date at sea by European security forces: 9,994 kilos.

As reported this Monday at the port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife by those in charge of the operation, the ship United S, flying the flag of Cameroon, was boarded in the Atlantic by agents from the special operations group of the Police, the GEO, who detained its thirteen crew members, of Indian and Serbian nationality.

"This operation, named 'Marea Blanca' (White Tide), represents the largest seizure of cocaine at sea carried out by the National Police in its entire history. Since 1999, when the ship Tammsaare was intercepted carrying 7,500 kilos of cocaine in its bow, no at-sea operation of these dimensions has been carried out," the force highlights in a press release.

The assault on the ship United S, which was supposedly carrying a cargo of salt from Brazil destined for a European port, had to be brought forward because several speedboats were approaching the vessel, presumably to transship the drug.