The Tax Agency intercepted a Turkish fishing boat with 12 tons of hashish south from Almería

Operation ‘Bósforo’

• The four crew members of the fishing boat, all of Turkish origin, were arrested and 480 bales of hashish resin hidden in the ship's hold were seized.
• The detainees were using a new drug trafficking route, the Eastern Mediterranean route

February 17, 2014.- The Tax Agency intercepted on the morning of February 14, 60 miles south of Almeria, a Turkish-flagged fishing boat carrying 12 tons of hashish. The operation, carried out with the collaboration of French customs, resulted in the arrest of the four crew members of the boat, all of Turkish nationality.

The operation, called 'Bósforo', began when aerial means of Customs Surveillance of the Tax Agency detected a suspicious fishing boat on February 11 some 25-30 nautical miles north of Melilla. The vessel, flying a Turkish flag and named 'Berk Kaptan', caught the attention of officials because the area where it was located was unusual for a ship of that size.

In the following days, the Tax Agency's Customs Surveillance aerial means continued to observe the aforementioned fishing vessel, which was stopped in the same area, establishing an air-naval device that would allow its interception. In the early hours of 14 February, several semi-rigid boats were detected approaching the ship, loaded with bales of the kind normally used to transport hashish. In light of these circumstances, the Customs Surveillance Special Operations Patrol Boat 'Fulmar' intercepted and boarded the fishing vessel.

Prior to boarding, a request was made through the CICO (Center for Intelligence Against Organized Crime) to Turkey, the country where the ship is registered, for the necessary authorization for boarding, as established by international law.

When the ship was inspected, 480 bales of hashish were discovered in its hold, weighing an estimated 12 tonnes.

The four crew members of the boat were immediately arrested and the vessel itself seized. The fishing vessel was transported by the 'Fulmar' to the port of Almería, where they arrived on the afternoon of February 14. The detainees, the ship and the drugs were placed at the disposal of the on-duty court of Almería.

The Eastern Mediterranean route is open

This operation marks the fourth time since last June that the Tax Agency has seized large quantities of hashish on the so-called 'Eastern Mediterranean route', with a total of more than 50 tonnes of drugs seized. In the last six months, naval surveillance devices deployed along the Mediterranean trade route by the authorities of France, Italy and Spain have intercepted seven ships carrying significant shipments of hashish.

This new operation confirms the importance of this new route opened for hashish trafficking. In the last twelve months, Italy, France and Spain have seized the vessels 'Adam', 'Gold Star', 'Luna-S', 'Moon Light', 'Avenir de Safi II' and an unnamed Egyptian fishing boat. These last three operations have been carried out by Customs Surveillance of the Tax Agency. All these vessels were transporting up to 30 tonnes of hashish. In order to control this new hashish trafficking route, the Customs and Excise Department of the Tax Agency has established intensive and permanent surveillance of the area, analyzing targets with a similar pattern.

As in its last three operations, the seizure of the Turkish-flagged fishing vessel was the result of this strategy.

Drug trafficking organizations adapt quickly to new scenarios, being very agile in assuming any change in strategy. Controlling the Eastern Mediterranean route and this type of vessel is complex.

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 introduce it directly to the Spanish or Italian coasts.