• Following an investigation by the Spanish authorities, the boat was intercepted and its four crew members, three from Ibiza and one from Colombia, were arrested.

• This is the largest amount of cocaine seized from a ship that has left Ibiza to load this drug.

December 12, 2024.- Customs Surveillance officials from the Tax Agency and agents from the National Police, with the collaboration of the French Customs, have completed an investigation that has allowed the intervention, in Caribbean waters, of a sailboat from Ibiza that was transporting 1,100 kilos of cocaine, as well as the arrest of its four crew members, three of them from Ibiza and one from Colombia.

The operation began at the end of 2023, when it was discovered that the 15-metre-long sloop-type sailboat "María del Mar" was heading to collect cocaine on a transatlantic voyage that began in December of that year.

Investigators found that the previous year, in September 2022, the boat had been purchased by a person resident and born in Ibiza with multiple police records and criminal links to drug trafficking.

At that time, the vessel was marked as a target for monitoring by the Balearic Maritime Intelligence Office of Customs Surveillance, which carries out an analysis of all vessels suspected of smuggling in Balearic waters. The vessel and its new owner were also being investigated by the National Police's Central Narcotics Brigade.

Subsequently, at the beginning of 2024, information was received from the Udyco Vigo unit of the National Police that focused the attention of investigators on the journey that the vessel had begun in mid-December, originating in Ibiza, crossing the Strait of Gibraltar on December 19, 2023.

As early as February 2, 2024, information was received that placed the ship on the island of San Vicente (Cape Verde), information that indicated that the vessel could be making a transatlantic voyage to South America. These facts were confirmed two days later, with confirmation that the sailboat was sailing south of the island of Santo Antão (Cape Verde), which indicated to investigators that it could be heading to South America to collect cocaine.

At that time, international collaboration protocols were activated, requesting through the MAOC-N (Maritime Analysis and Operations Center for Drug Trafficking) the location, monitoring and, with prior authorization from the investigators, boarding of the target.

Boarding, burning of the ship and arrests

On February 17, signals indicated that the vessel was located north of French Guiana. This new position indicated to investigators that the vessel could be heading to receive a cocaine transfer, a usual modus operandi in the area in which it was located, and which was subsequently confirmed.

After transmitting the vessel's position through international cooperation procedures, on 23 February the French authorities located the vessel, which had begun its return journey, north of Suriname, and requested permission from the Spanish investigators to board it.

On Monday 26 February, French authorities announced that the Jersey-flagged vessel "María del Mar" was boarded early in the morning by a French Customs patrol boat. At the time of boarding, the crew set fire to the boat to prevent its capture and to destroy the narcotic substances.

The fire was brought under control by French customs officials, who later located several bales in the forward warehouse, weighing approximately 1.1 tonnes, the contents of which were analysed with a positive result for cocaine. This is the largest amount of cocaine seized from a ship that has left Ibiza to load this drug.

The crew of the sailboat was immediately arrested, consisting of three Spaniards living in Ibiza (the owner of the boat, his partner and a third person) and a Colombian individual who is believed to have been the guarantor of the cocaine.

The vessel was then seized and transferred to Martinique, where all actions were taken regarding the detainees, the electronic devices they were carrying and the narcotic substances.

The investigation was carried out by agents of the Customs Surveillance Operational Unit of the Tax Agency in Palma, UDYCO Vigo and the Central Narcotics Brigade of the National Police.

Until recently, the investigation into the activities of those arrested has continued and future arrests are not ruled out.