Madrid, Oct 26 (EFE).— Spanish police have seized about 6.5 tons of cocaine from a merchant ship that had sailed from the Panamanian port of Cristobal Anch and was bound for the northwestern Spanish port of Vigo, authorities said Sunday.
The Special Operations Group (GEO) of the National Police led the raid late Wednesday, detaining nine crew members aboard the Panamanian-owned vessel, which was sailing under the Tanzanian flag.
The operation took place about 600 miles southwest of the Canary Islands, with support from the Spanish Navy.
According to the police statement, the operation was coordinated under the direction of the Special Anti-Drug Prosecutor’s Office of the Spanish National Court and launched after a tip-off from the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) on Oct. 8.
The DEA had alerted Spanish authorities to an international criminal organization attempting to transport a massive cocaine shipment across the Atlantic.
Around 21:30 on Wednesday, police agents boarded the 54-meter-long, 12-meter-wide vessel from a Navy ship and arrested the crew.
The officers discovered several concealed compartments on board that were not part of the ship’s normal structure and were allegedly designed to store the drugs.
Police have not disclosed the age or nationality of the detainees but confirmed that the vessel was en route to Vigo when intercepted.
Authorities described the bust as one of Spain’s largest anti-narcotics operations in recent years.
In November last year, police seized 13 tonnes kilos of cocaine at the southern port of Algeciras.
Other major operations in 2024 included the confiscation of 1.7 tonnes in Valencia earlier this month and 3.6 tonnes in Galicia in September, along with numerous smaller seizures nationwide. EFE
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