In operations ‘Red’ and ‘Cerco’

The Tax Agency seizes three and a half tons of hashish in the coasts of Málaga and Granada

• The operations end up with the arrest of four people and the confiscation of a fishing boat and a recreation boat
• Both operations are a consequence of the special Andalusian coast monitoring system developed by Customs Surveillance

 

 

May 28, 2013.- The Tax Agency has seized 3,479 kilograms of hashish in two operations in Andalusia during the month of May. In one operation 1,579 kilos were apprehended in a fishing boat in the coasts of Marbella, Málaga, and in the other one 1,900 kilos in the port of Almuñécar, Granada.

Both operations, which have so far ended up with the arrest of four people and the seizure of two boats, are a result of the special surveillance system carried out by the Department of Customs of the Tax Agency in the coasts of Andalusia on boats potentially susceptible of being used for illicit activities.

'Red' Operation

The first operation, named 'Red', took place the 1st of May. It was initiated at about five in the morning when the aircrafts of the Tax Agency's Customs Surveillance detected a semirigid pneumatic vessel approximately 10 meters long with two engines, manned by three people, that sailed at great speed and with no lights from open sea towards the coast of Mijas, in Málaga.

At 9.30 a.m. the vessel unloaded onto a fishing boat that was a few miles south from Punta de Calaburras. The fishing boat went towards the port of Marbella, where it was approached by Customs Surveillance workers of Málaga, who observed that it carried burlap and raffia sacks, the ones commonly used for the transport of narcotics.

The two crew members were immediately arrested, and they have been accused of alleged offences of smuggling and against public health, and whose affiliations correspond to the following initials: F.J.L.J. (of Spanish nationality, born in 1977 and citizen of Málaga), who is also the owner of the seized boat, and T.B. (born in Tunisia in 1976 and citizen of Mijas-Costa).

Once an exhaustive counting of the seized drug had been carried out, it showed an approximative weight of 1,579 kilos of hashish resin, divided up into 50 packets of different forms, sizes and weights. The persons under arrest and the seized drug and vessel were put into administration of Instruction Court number 5 of Marbella (Málaga).

'Cerco' Operation

The second operation, named 'Cerco', took place on the 16th of May in the Marina del Este yachting harbour (Almuñécar) on a British-flag yacht called 'Devo' that had aroused suspicions in the Tax Agency's civil servants.

Once a surveillance system that lasted several days was established, they waited until the crew members of the vessel tried to access it, moment in which the Customs Surveillance civil servants proceeded to their identification and to a first visual inspection of the smuggler vessel, finding a hidden space in which they found the burlap and raffia sacks.

Immediately after the arrest of the two crew members, both British, accused of an alleged offence of smuggling and against the public health, and whose affiliations correspond to the following initials: P. C. N. born on 25-02-1964 in Newport (Country of Wales), who is also the owner of the seized boat, and L. D. C. born on 01-05-1984 in Chester (England).

The counting of the seized drug indicates an approximative weight of 1,900 kilos of hashish resin, divided up into 63 bundles. The two persons under arrest and seized drug and boat were put into administration of Instruction Court number 1 of Almuñécar (Granada), in watchkeeping.

Both investigations remain open, so there could be new arrests in the following days. Both operations are part of a sea, land and air surveillance special system developed by civil servants of Customs Surveillance of Andalusia, which aims to fight smuggling and drugs traffic specifically.