New ship for the fight against drug trafficking

• The ship, 43 metres long and with a range that doubles that of a traditional patrol boat, will be able to carry out missions on the high seas and provide a coastal patrol service covering large surveillance areas.
• Given its multipurpose nature, after a few months in the Vigo area to ensure full operational conditions, it will use different reference bases on the national coast depending on service needs.
• The patrol boat 'Cóndor' will have the most modern means of navigation and communications, collection areas close to the water level to facilitate rescues in humanitarian emergency situations and also a fire-fighting water cannon to support other vessels in the event of an accident at sea.

April 15, 2021 .- The Tax Agency has since today a new multipurpose high-altitude patrol vehicle for the fight against drug trafficking. The commissioning of the patrol boat 'Cóndor' represents the introduction of a new vessel segment in the fleet of the Customs Surveillance Service, with a vessel suitable for both carrying out coastal control tasks in one or several regions, and for carrying out short and medium-range missions on the high seas.

The 'Cóndor' was sponsored this morning in Moaña (Pontevedra) by the Secretary of State for the Treasury, Inés Bardón, during an inaugural event held at the facilities of the Rodman Polyships shipyards, which was attended by the Director General of the Tax Agency, Jesús Gascón, the Government delegate in Galicia, José Manuel Miñones, and representatives of the Customs Department and the Special Delegation of the AEAT in Galicia and regional and local authorities, as well as the State Security Forces and Corps.

With a length of 43 metres, a maximum speed of 23 knots, a crew of up to 14 people and a range of more than 2,000 nautical miles, twice that of a conventional patrol boat, the 'Cóndor' will offer great versatility in the naval operations against drug trafficking carried out by Customs Surveillance, given that it will be able to provide service to the bases in coastal patrol covering large areas of the coast, but will also have the capacity to carry out oceanic interceptions.

For this reason, and after a few months of operation in the Vigo area to ensure its full operational conditions, it will be allocated to different reference bases during its useful life, depending on the service needs that exist at any given time.

The 'Cóndor' takes its name from the 80s and 90s, when under this name a series of camouflaged patrol boats carried out their service for Customs Surveillance during a particularly intense period of the fight against drug trafficking in Spain.

This new patrol boat already has the most modern means of navigation and communications. It will be equipped with a state-of-the-art optronic system for detecting and tracking vessels, as well as a specific secure communications system. Two auxiliary vessels will transport the prize crews from the ship to the boarding points.

Assistance work at sea

Likewise, in response to the humanitarian emergency situations experienced on the Spanish coast, the 'Cóndor' has a system on board for collecting castaways that includes the installation of collection areas close to the water level to facilitate rescue.

A powerful fire-fighting water cannon has also been added to the ship to support other vessels in the event of an accident at sea.

The Customs Surveillance Fleet

With the arrival of the 'Cóndor', the fleet of the Customs Surveillance Service of the Tax Agency now has a total of 47 vessels of different classes and lengths: the special operations vessels 'Petrel' and 'Fulmar', measuring 72.5 and 61 metres in length respectively, the new 43-metre multi-purpose deep-sea patrol vessel, the 32-metre patrol boats and the 17-metre interceptors, as well as various semi-rigid and similar assistance and support boats.

From its 25 maritime bases and with the support of another six air bases, all of them coordinated in Madrid by the Permanent Operational Coordination Centre with the support of the Maritime Intelligence Offices, the Customs Surveillance fleet has been carrying out more than 2,300 vessel surveys annually, with more than 250,000 miles sailed each year.

Their role has been key in major anti-drug operations for decades. Taking the most recent period as a reference, only from the beginning of 2019 to date, 140 operations have been carried out, resulting in 19 tons of cocaine and more than 200 tons of hashish seized.