In the operation, a fishing boat was seized and five people were arrested.

The Tax Agency has closed 'Operation Sophie', carried out in Murcia by the Customs Surveillance Service and in which 4,320 kilograms of hashish were seized. As a result of this operation, five people have been arrested and a fishing boat has been seized. The seized drugs are believed to have been valued at 6,177,000 euros on the illicit drug market.

The operation began on 9 December 2010, when the Tax Agency's naval and air resources detected a fishing boat named 'S Siroco', 12 metres long, which was operating in a manner suspicious of fishing activities. The vessel was intercepted at 4:30 p.m. 24 miles south of Cartagena by the crew of the patrol boat 'Abanto' of the Customs Department of the Tax Agency based in Cartagena.

Upon boarding the vessel, customs officials found 141 burlap bales, which are commonly used to transport hashish, in the cockpit and elsewhere on the fishing boat.

The officers, assigned to the Customs Surveillance Operational Area of the Tax Agency in Murcia, intervened the boat and arrested the five crew members, including the skipper, who were transferred to Cartagena that same afternoon. Some of the detainees had previously been investigated by Customs Surveillance officials for their involvement in maritime drug trafficking.

The operation was concluded a few days ago when all police efforts aimed at dismantling the criminal organisation were considered complete.

The drugs, the detainees and the seized boat have been placed at the disposal of the Court of Instruction on duty in Cartagena.