Joint operation of the Tax Agency and the National Police

• The Special Operations Vessel 'Fulmar' of the Customs Surveillance Service, in an international operation coordinated by the Center for Maritime Analysis and Operations in the field of Drug Trafficking (MAOC-N) and the Center for Intelligence Against Terrorism and Organized Crime (CITCO), has boarded a ship loaded with cocaine valued at around 15 million euros.
• The operation resulted in the arrest of its two crew members, who are of Bulgarian nationality.

August 18, 2022.- The Customs Surveillance Service of the Tax Agency, in a joint operation with the National Police, has intercepted 500 nautical miles from the Azores Islands a 15.85-meter-long 'sloop' type sailboat, named 'Frea', flying the Polish flag, when it was transporting approximately 400 kilos of cocaine valued at around 15 million euros.

The operation was launched as a result of international collaboration through the exchange of information between MAOC-N (Atlantic Analysis and Operations Center), CITCO (Intelligence Center Against Terrorism and Organized Crime), investigators from the Customs Surveillance Service and the National Police. From there, the possible involvement of a vessel suspected of trafficking drugs from South America was determined.

As a result, the Tax Agency's Customs Surveillance Service established the appropriate air-naval device which resulted in its patrol boat 'Fulmar' locating and boarding the sailboat on the morning of August 5.

At the time of the boarding, it was observed that the sailboat was carrying a significant amount of bales of the type normally used for cocaine trafficking, hidden in a compartment at the stern of the vessel. At that time, the two crew members, of Bulgarian nationality, were arrested and the ship was seized and taken to the port of Cadiz, where it was searched.

Investigators suspected that, in addition to the approximately 18 kilos of cocaine that had been detected after the boarding, a substantially larger quantity of this narcotic could already be hidden in the ship's hull. After the search, suspicions were confirmed, bringing the total amount seized to 400 kilos of cocaine.

The drugs were hidden in a double bottom at the stern of the sailboat, so their discovery was very laborious.

The operation was directed and coordinated by the Anti-Drug Prosecutor's Office of the National Court. The detainees, the boat, the drugs and the police investigation will be placed at the disposal of Central Court of Instruction No. 5.

This operation is one of many carried out in the fight against drug trafficking on the so-called Atlantic Route of cocaine, known for being used by sailboats from South America that transport narcotic substances in the middle of the Atlantic for their subsequent introduction into the European continent.