The fight against drug trafficking

• The two crew members of the boat were arrested, who tried to justify with an alleged load of fish how sunken the boat was in its bow

April 22, 2022.- Officials from the Customs Surveillance Service of the Tax Agency have seized 330 kilos of hashish that were transported inside a recreational boat on the coast of Almería. The operation also involved the arrest of the two crew members of the boat, which showed a pronounced sinking in its bow justified by the detainees with a false load of fish.

The action took place on April 17, when, through the detection means of the Customs Surveillance Service, a patrol boat based in Almería marked the presence of a sports boat that was sailing north towards the Almería coast and that could having carried out a transshipment on the high seas.

The Customs Surveillance patrol boat headed to meet the objective to carry out a reconnaissance. After reaching the boat, the officials questioned its crew, who declared they had come to fish, although they did not have any load of fish. After inspecting the boat, which was very sunken at the bow, they discovered that there were different packages wrapped in burlap on the boat, the kind usually used in transporting hashish.

The two crew members were immediately arrested and the boat was taken to the port of Almería, where an exhaustive count was carried out, resulting in the seizure of 40 packages of different sizes that yielded a total weight of 330 kilos of hashish, of according to a first 'narcotest' control.

Both the boat and the drugs and other seized effects, along with the detained persons, were placed at the disposal of the Investigative Court number two of Almería, which was on guard duty.

Investigations continue in order to identify if there are more people involved in the events.