The fight against drug trafficking

• This is the largest quantity of hashish seized by the Customs Surveillance Service in a single semi-rigid inflatable boat.
• The three crew members of the 'narco-boat', of Moroccan nationality, were arrested
• The boat, detected by Customs Surveillance aerial means, has a power of 1,200 HP distributed in four outboard motors

December 31, 2021 .- The Customs Surveillance Service of the Tax Agency has intervened in waters east of the Strait of Gibraltar a semi-rigid boat carrying more than 4,700 kilos of hashish, arresting, in turn, its three crew members, of Moroccan nationality. The operation, carried out with naval and air resources on Wednesday night, has led to the largest seizure of hashish carried out by Customs Surveillance in a single 'narco-boat' to date. Investigators attribute to this vessel the role of mother boat, or supplier of other 'gomas' that would introduce the drugs into the national territory.

The operation began when the Tax Agency's air control equipment detected, to the east of the Strait, a 12-metre-long semi-rigid boat with four 300 HP outboard motors each, and which was carrying a large number of packages, of the same type as those normally used to transport narcotic substances.

An air and naval operation was immediately launched and two Customs vessels based in Algeciras were sent in search of the target, which ended up intercepting the semi-rigid vessel by surprise at the moment when it was waiting to transfer the cargo to other smaller boats.

Crew members without material space on the 'narco-boat'

After confirming the large number of burlap bales that the drug boat was carrying and arresting its three occupants, the officers headed back to the base in Algeciras, where the count of the hashish load revealed the amount of 148 packages, with an approximate weight of 4,700 kilos.

Unlike other types of vessels, such as merchant ships, fishing boats or sailing boats, whose intervention has sometimes led to seizures of even larger volumes of hashish by the Tax Agency's Customs Surveillance Service, in the case of this operation, investigators have been surprised by the size of the load for a single semi-rigid boat (larger seizures have been made in the case of two or more 'rubber boats' in a single operation), even taking into account its role as a mother boat.

When the drug-launch was seized, Customs Surveillance officials were able to confirm that the vessel lacked the minimum conditions of habitability. The crew of the semi-rigid boat found themselves without any physical space to move from their seats in the boat, as they found themselves literally surrounded by the burlap bales that even exceeded the line of the inflatable floats.

The effects of the legal ban on 'narco-boats'

The publication of Royal Decree-Law 16/2018, which considers this type of boat to be prohibited when it lacks the corresponding authorization, has significantly affected the operations of drug trafficking organizations, which are trying to conserve their "narco-boats" to a greater extent than before, as they find themselves with an increasing shortage of vessels of these characteristics.

This has led to increased logistical support from other organizations dedicated to supplying fuel and offering maintenance and repairs to the mother boats, which to a greater extent than before wait at sea for days for the arrival of smaller boats that load the drugs for their stash on land.

In response to this, the control work of the Customs Surveillance Service is allowing operations such as this one to be carried out, where intervention is carried out in the middle section of the drug distribution chain and, therefore, before any attempt is made to unload the drugs on the Spanish coast.

The detainees, along with the drugs and other items seized, have already been placed at the disposal of the competent judicial authority.

This operation is part of the control actions of maritime routes carried out by the Tax Agency through its Customs Department, which participates in the Special Security Plan for Campo de Gibraltar.

Operation filming (to download the video, enter the following web address):

https://we.tl/t-0c6IGD1uGQ