News

On Saturday, 12 July, the French authorities successfully intercepted and boarded a vessel in international waters during a maritime counter-narcotics operation supported by MAOC (N). During the search, the boarding team uncovered 153 bales, weighing a total of 4841kg – almost five tonnes of cocaine – representing a significant disruption to the ever-evolving dynamics of…

The Polícia Judiciária (PJ), with the support of the Portuguese Navy and Portuguese Air Force, has intercepted a 14-metre sailing vessel in the Atlantic Ocean carrying approximately 263kg of cocaine. The vessel was travelling from Latin America to Europe when it was located and boarded in international waters. After the interception, the vessel was escorted…

Last week, French customs (DNRED) carried out a major drug seizure on board a sailing vessel that had made a stopover in Nuku Hiva, French Polynesia. Following a thorough search, officers discovered a substantial quantity of drugs on board, totalling 900 kilograms of cocaine and 180 kilograms of methamphetamine, reportedly destined for Australia. It is…

In a significant blow to international drug trafficking networks, Irish authorities have seized 440kg of cocaine following a coordinated maritime interdiction operation off the coast of Cork, Ireland. The drugs were offloaded from a suspected mother vessel — a 200-metre bulk carrier arriving from South America — and collected at sea by a go-fast, which…

MAOC (N) participated in Operation White Sea V, a large-scale international initiative targeting maritime drug trafficking across the European west coast, the English Channel, the North Sea, and major seaports. The operation, led by Belgian Customs and coordinated under the EU’s EMPACT framework by Europol, ran from 2 to 30 June 2025. Twelve European countries…

In recent days, the Spanish authorities launched a maritime operation aimed at intercepting a sailing vessel suspected of carrying a significant quantity of cocaine bound for Europe. Following the dissemination of intelligence via MAOC-N, the Customs Surveillance Service (SVA) patrol vessel Sacre successfully intercepted the target approximately 50 nautical miles off the coast of the…