In an operation by the Tax Agency, the National Police and the Civil Guard with the collaboration of the Spanish Navy

• The merchant ship planned to transfer the drugs to other smaller vessels as it passed along the Galician coast, and once on land, they would be distributed to different European countries.
• The Spanish Navy's maritime action vessel 'Serviola', with units on board from the three intervening corps, located the merchant ship off the coast of the town of Lugo
• Faced with the assault on the ship by the GEO of the National Police, the nine crew members opened a waterway to sink it and thus eliminate all possible evidence.

February 23, 2021.- Customs Surveillance Officers of the Tax Agency together with Agents of the National Police and the Civil Guard, with the collaboration of the Spanish Navy, have seized nearly three tons of cocaine on a ship on the high seas off the coast of Ribadeo (Lugo). The nine crew members who, when the ship was attacked by the National Police GEO, did not hesitate to open a leak to sink it in order to eliminate all evidence, were arrested in the operation.

The joint investigation began in May of last year, after learning of the alleged illegal activities of a criminal organisation based in the O Salnés region of the province of Pontevedra. As a result of the analysis of all the information obtained throughout this investigation, coordinated by the Central Court of Instruction number 1 of the National Court, the agents gathered a series of clues that pointed to the existence of a merchant ship that could transport a significant quantity of cocaine, which would be transferred to other vessels at some undetermined point on the Galician coast.

The investigation therefore focused on a vessel named 'Nehir', 52 metres long and flying the flag of the Republic of Palau, whose characteristics and navigation route perfectly matched the possible objective of the police operation. At the same time, the agents also confirmed that, due to a meteorological alert on the Atlantic coast, it would not be possible to transfer to any other ship as the 'Nehir' passed along the Galician coast, which is why, after the relevant meeting at the Coordination and Studies Office of the CITCO of the State Secretariat for Security, it was decided to intercept the aforementioned ship. 

In this way, the maritime action vessel 'Serviola' of the Spanish Navy, with specialized forces on board from the three intervening bodies and supported by a helicopter and three Customs Surveillance patrol boats from the Tax Agency's Bases in Coruña, Ribadeo and Santander and a patrol boat from the Maritime Service of the Gijón Command of the Civil Guard, located the merchant ship early yesterday off the coast of Ribadeo (Lugo). The ship was boarded by the National Police GEO who located a large quantity of bales, similar to those normally used to transport narcotic substances, hidden in a compartment of the ship.

They sank the ship during the assault

During the attack, the crew of the 'Nehir', seeing no possibility of escape, activated a device that caused the rapid flooding of all the compartments of the ship with the intention of not leaving any trace of its illegal cargo, causing the ship to sink completely in just over two hours.

The rapid action of all the agents and crew of the 'Serviola' allowed not only the recovery of all the bales containing the drugs and the rest of the effects related to the events under investigation, but also, and more importantly, the rescue of the entire crew of the 'Nehir' without any harm. This morning, the 'Serviola' arrived at the port of El Ferrol with the detainees and all the narcotic substances seized, which, once on land, weighed about three tons of cocaine.

The nine crew members, all of whom are Georgian and Turkish nationals, will be brought before the judicial authorities in the coming days.

Operation filming (to download the video, enter the following web address):  https://we.tl/t-gDwXFBkscA