Fishing boat seized north of Canary Islands transporting 560 kilos of cocaine

Joint operation by security forces results in a fishing vessel carrying 560 kilos of cocaine being seized north of the Canary Islands

Guardia Civil officers, in a joint operation with the National Police, and Customs Surveillance of the Tax Agency, have intercepted a 19-metre-long fishing boat, some 230 nautical miles north of the Canary Islands.
The vessel, named ‘Mestre Doca I’, was flying the flag of Brazil, and subsequently found to be transporting 560 kilos of cocaine, with a street value of an estimated €30 million.
Thanks to international collaboration and the exchange of information between the various security forces including MAOC-N and the CITCO, it was determined that a vessel suspected of illicit drug trafficking had originally set sail from South America.
A plan was immediately put into place by the Customs Surveillance of the Tax Agency. An aeronaval operation soon resulted in the location of the fishing vessel by the Tax Agency’s patrol boat ‘Fulmar’, in the early hours of January 19.
The suspicious vessel, upon detecting the presence of Customs Surveillance agents, carried out evasive manoeuvres and fled, which only increased suspicions that it was carrying out some illegal activity.
At the time of boarding, it was observed that the fishing boat was transporting a significant number of bundles of those usually used for cocaine trafficking. The seven crew members of the boat – six Brazilians and a Frenchman – were arrested.
Due to the rough condition of the sea, the navigation and assault conditions were very complicated, with the actions carried out in the middle of a storm. Despite this, the rapid action of the special operations ship ‘Fulmar’ and its crew prevented the transshipment of the drugs to other vessels, which would have made it much more difficult to detect the shipment.
The boat was confiscated and transferred to the port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife on the morning of Friday, January 21. All the detainees, as well as the boat, the drugs, and the police proceedings, will be handed over to the Central Investigating Court.

Interceptado un pesquero con 560 kilos de cocaína al norte de las Islas Canarias

El buque ‘Fulmar’ de Vigilancia Aduanera de la Agencia Tributaria, en operación internacional coordinada por el MAOC-N y el CITCO, abordó el pesquero cargado con la cocaínahttps://t.co/cWsxhDcklf pic.twitter.com/gfmXPelEV9

— Guardia Civil (@guardiacivil) January 21, 2022

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