On the 8th of October, Spanish Customs (DAVA), together with the Spanish National Police, carried out a maritime operation to intercept a German flagged sailing vessel suspected of being loaded with a large quantity of cocaine.
Despite a challenging a sea state, the Spanish boarding team managed to intercept the target approximately 480 nautical miles north of the Azores, finding 2.5 tons of cocaine presumably destined to be transferred at sea to fast boats departing from the coast of Galicia, northern Spain. Simultaneously, the Spanish authorities arrested several individuals associated with an organised crime group based in the south of the country, with known links to several other European countries.
The crew, composed of 2 experienced sailors, were arrested and placed in the custody of the competent judicial authority.
This successful operation was made possible through close international cooperation between MAOC-N, the Spanish authorities, the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency (NCA), the French Police (OFAST), the US Drugs Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Dutch National Police and the Colombian authorities (DIRAN).
