Operation 'Giant'

• The five crew members of the Belizean-flagged tugboat that left the Netherlands in November and may have already made a previous transport to Central Africa have been arrested
• Investigations by the analysts of the Customs Surveillance Maritime Intelligence Office of the Tax Agency in Galicia were decisive in establishing the risk and deciding on the approach
• The operation was part of an extensive maritime intelligence mechanism driven by Customs Surveillance, called 'Nautilus.

December 29, 2020 .- The Tax Agency has intercepted today in Atlantic waters north of the Canary Islands a tugboat loaded with nearly 15,000 kilos of hashish with an unknown destination and has detained its five crew members, three of Moroccan nationality and two from Bangladesh. The ship left the Netherlands last November and, as it passed along the Galician coast heading south, it aroused the suspicions of analysts from the Customs Surveillance Maritime Intelligence Office in Galicia, who were decisive in establishing the risk and deciding to board.

The operational phase of the operation, known as 'Gigante', began in the early hours of yesterday morning and ended in the afternoon with the Customs Surveillance patrol boat 'Sacre', based in the port of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, intercepting a tugboat named 'Cyklo 1' flying the flag of Belize some 180 miles northwest of Gran Canaria in international waters. A large number of bales of hashish were found onboard, which, pending count and official weight, could reach 15 tonnes.

Guarded by the naval Customs Surveillance, the apprehended boat arrived this afternoon at the Las Palmas Naval Base to bring the drugs and the detainees to justice. The actions have been carried out under the coordination of the Special Anti-Drug Prosecutor's Office of the National Court and the Central Court of Instruction No. 6.

The investigation started in Galicia

The actions started at the beginning of November, when customs surveillance aircraft in Galicia detected the 'Cyklo 1', a 28-metre long tugboat, which had left the port of Zwijndrecht in Holland on 5 November.

The investigations carried out by the analysts of the Maritime Intelligence Office (OIM) of the Regional Customs Surveillance Area in Galicia considered the vessel to be suspicious due to its characteristics, age (built in 1966), its recent purchase and flagging and, in particular, its lack of commercial activity as it did not have any known charter or towing contracts. All this led to the vessel being considered special risk and its control was carried out by the OIM of Galicia and the Central Customs Surveillance Services in Madrid.

According to the investigations, in November, the tugboat carried out a first transport of hashish to Central Africa, then called at the port of Dakar, in Senegal, and after refuelling and food, carried out a new load.

From that moment on, an operation was set up from Las Palmas de Gran Canaria to board and intercept the vessel, which ended yesterday afternoon.

The 'Nautilus' unit

This anti-drug operation is part of the so-called 'Nautilus' unit, a nationwide operation planned by the Tax Agency's Customs Surveillance Sub-Directorate as part of the activities set out in the various Action Plans for 2020. The aim of this operation is to generate maritime intelligence aimed at detecting possible suspicious vessels that will enable investigations to be launched to suppress illegal drug trafficking by sea and to dismantle the criminal organisations responsible for these actions.

The Customs Surveillance Maritime Intelligence Offices were created in 2018 and start operations the following year. They have had a very decisive role in different anti-drug operations, such as this year's operation 'Schooner', also within the framework of the fight against hashish trafficking.

The guidelines of the Tax Agency's Annual Tax and Customs Control Plan for 2020 give these Maritime Intelligence Offices a very important role in the strategy of the Customs and Excise Department in the fight against drug trafficking by sea.

Operation 'Gigante' was carried out by the Regional Customs Surveillance Areas in Galicia and the Canary Islands with the collaboration of the Maritime Analysis and Operations Centre (MAOC-N), the United States Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and the French customs authorities. The operation and investigations remain open.

Customs Supervision: Presentation of charges for smuggling and related offences Free telephone 900351378. Email: denunciasvigilanciaaduanera@correo.aeat.es

Filming and photographs of the operation (to download the video and photos you must enter the following web address):

https://we.tl/t-pQIpzxeHkR