Operation ‘Ramses’

• The eight crew members of the fishing boat were arrested, seven of them of Italian nationality and the eighth of Egyptian nationality, after verifying the existence of 292 bales of hashish resin on the deck and in the hold of the vessel.
• For the second time in a few months, the seized vessel was flying the flag of a European country, a strategy that drug trafficking organizations could be using to raise less suspicion.
• The operation was carried out with the efficient and effective collaboration of French Customs.

 

January 26, 2015.- The Tax Agency intercepted on Saturday night, some 138 miles southeast of Cartagena, an Italian fishing boat named 'Santa Rita Terza', 30 meters long, when it was transporting an approximate quantity of 8,700 kilograms of hashish resin, previously unloaded from two inflatable boats. The operation carried out by AEAT Customs Surveillance officials, called 'Ramsés', has culminated in the arrest of eight crew members of the boat, seven of Italian nationality (one of them with dual nationality, Italian and Tunisian) and the eighth of Egyptian nationality, who will be brought before a court in the next few hours.

This operation marks the ninth seizure of large quantities of hashish by the Tax Agency on the 'Eastern Mediterranean route' since May 2013, with a total of more than 100 tonnes of drugs seized. Over the past year, control measures implemented on the Mediterranean trade route by the authorities of France, Italy and Spain have led to the interception of twelve ships carrying a significant load of hashish.

Operation Ramses began when aerial vehicles from Customs Surveillance and French Customs detected a suspicious fishing boat on Saturday afternoon, approximately 65 nautical miles south of Almería. The boat was suspicious given the unusual location of the area where it was located for a boat of that nature.

Once the appropriate air-naval operation had been established, the patrol boats 'Arao' and 'Alca', based in Alicante and Almería, respectively, headed to the area and proceeded to board the vessel. The surveillance operation, coordinated by the General Subdirectorate of Operations of the Customs and Excise Department, also involved the patrol boat 'Abanto', based in Cartagena, and aerial means of Customs Surveillance.

Upon taking control of the vessel, Customs Surveillance officers discovered an undetermined quantity of bales of hashish on the deck and in the hold of the fishing boat, which, pending official weighing, could contain around 8,700 kilos of this drug, whose value on the illicit market could reach 13.6 million euros.

The eight crew members of the vessel were immediately arrested, the fishing boat was seized and subsequently transferred to the port of Cartagena. The detainees, the ship and the drugs will be placed at the disposal of the Court of Instruction on Duty in Cartagena.

 

The use of European flags

This new operation confirms the importance of this new route opened for hashish trafficking, known as the 'Eastern Mediterranean'. In the last year and a half, Italy, France and Spain have seized the vessels 'Adam', 'Gold Star', 'Luna-S', 'Moon Light', 'Avenir de Safi II', an unnamed Egyptian fishing boat, the 'Berk Kaptan', 'Al Amir Khaled', 'Abou de Sherief', 'La Misericordia de Dios', 'Mayak', 'Assel', 'Aberdeen', 'Just Noran', 'Zakmar', 'Eiskos' and 'Rinad' (nine of which were carried out by the Tax Agency's Customs Surveillance Unit). All these vessels were transporting up to 30 tonnes of hashish.

In an attempt to control this new trend in the traffic of hashish, the Customs Department of the Tax Agency has set up surveillance in the area to detect similar patterns of transport. The result of this tactic is this latest seizure.

In recent months, the use of fishing vessels with European registrations has been detected (the 'Eiskos', with a Portuguese registration, and now the 'Santa Rita Terza', with an Italian flag), with the aim of arousing less suspicion among the air and naval resources of the European customs services that monitor the Eastern Mediterranean route.

Investigators suspect that the Eastern Mediterranean route is being used by organizations located in northern African countries, which are transporting large amounts of hashish in trade or fishing vessels, and storing it in these countries. Using these vessels, the drugs would later be redistributed towards Europe, without ruling out that, in some cases, they could be used as mother ships to transfer the hashish to other smaller vessels, which would introduce it directly to the Spanish or Italian coasts.

Drug trafficking organizations adapt quickly to new scenarios, being very agile in assuming any change in strategy. Control of this route in the Eastern Mediterranean and of this type of vessel is complex, as these are commercial vessels that usually carry out legal transports and, upon departure, with a brief technical stop, receive significant quantities of hashish for transfer to the easternmost countries of the Mediterranean, from where the drug would be stored for subsequent transfer to Europe.

Customs Supervision: Filing of complaints for smuggling and related crimes
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Email: denunciasvigilanciaaduanera@correo.aeat.es