The Tax Agency intercepts a merchant ship with 18 tons of hashish to the south of Almería

Operation “Mar de fondo”

• Seven crew members of the merchant ship, all of Syrian nationality, arrested
• This is the seventh seizure made by Customs Surveillance on the Eastern Mediterranean route since June 2013.

April 21, 2014.- The Tax Agency intercepted in the early hours of last Saturday, in the waters of Alboran Island, southwest of Almeria, a merchant ship with a flag of convenience that was transporting nearly 18 tons of hashish. Its seven crew members, all of Syrian nationality, have been arrested.

The operation, called 'Mar de fondo', began when air-naval surveillance means of the Tax Agency's Customs Surveillance detected a merchant ship that had loaded merchandise in Casablanca and that presented a certain risk pattern.

Once the appropriate air-naval device was established, two Customs Surveillance patrol boats headed to the area under Spanish jurisdiction to intercept the ship. During the inspection visit, a manoeuvre by the crew to sink the ship was detected, and in view of this risk, the crew was asked to head for Almería, where a large quantity of bales of hashish was discovered, in a quantity that could be close to 18,000 kilos, and the crew was arrested.

Eastern Mediterranean Route

This operation marks the seventh time that large quantities of hashish have been seized by Customs on the 'Eastern Mediterranean route' since last June, with a total of more than 90 tonnes of drugs seized. To this end, the implementation of analysis and control devices on the Mediterranean trade route by the authorities of France, Italy and Spain has been essential, resulting in the interception of 12 ships carrying large loads of hashish.

This new operation confirms the importance of this new route opened for hashish trafficking. In the last twelve months, the authorities of Italy, France and Spain have seized the vessels 'Adam', 'Gold Star', 'Luna-S', 'Moon Light', 'Avenir de Safi II', an unnamed Egyptian fishing boat, 'Berk Kaptan', 'A la voluntad de Dios', 'Mayak', two more fishing boats in Italy and, now, the merchant ship intercepted in Operation 'Mar de Fondo'.

In order to control this new hashish trafficking route that could be diverted to our country, the Customs and Excise Department of the Tax Agency has established intensive and permanent surveillance of the area, evaluating the risk of maritime traffic of goods and intensifying international collaboration.

As in its six previous operations, the seizure of the merchant ship in Operation 'Mar de Fondo' was the result of this strategy. Drug trafficking organizations are agile and flexible, adapting quickly to new scenarios. Investigators suspect that this route may be used by organisations based in North African countries. They would transport large quantities of hashish on merchant or fishing vessels, commercial ships that would carry out legal transports and, upon departure, with a brief technical stop, receive large quantities of hashish for transfer to the easternmost countries of the Mediterranean.

These ships can also be used as mother ships to transfer the hashish to other smaller vessels, which would unload it directly on the Community, Spanish, French or Italian coast.