Operation against drug trafficking

• The operation required a coordinated and simultaneous operational action by two patrol boats of the Customs Surveillance Service based in Motril, following an alert from one of the aerial means, which detected three semi-rigid boats on the high seas in a waiting attitude.
• The four crew members of the boat carrying the drugs were arrested after an escape attempt was defused thanks to the rapid deployment of the boarding device

July 20, 2022.- Customs Surveillance officials from the Tax Agency have seized 2,384 kilos of hashish in an operation against drug trafficking in the Alboran Sea and the coast of Granada. The operation concluded with the seizure of the drugs and the arrest of the four crew members of the drug boat that was carrying the narcotic.

The operation began in the early hours of July 7, when one of the Customs Surveillance aircraft, which was on a routine patrol, control and surveillance mission, located three semi-rigid boats stopped and side by side 15 miles southeast of Alboran Island and confirmed that one of the semi-rigid boats was loaded with an undetermined number of burlap and raffia bales commonly used for transporting hashish, on standby.

A monitoring and control device was immediately established for the suspicious targets, in which air and naval resources from the Customs Department of the Tax Agency participated, and which was joined by the Customs Surveillance patrol boats 'Colimbo II' and 'Fénix III', both based in Motril.

Rapid operational deployment

During the early morning, the patrol boat 'Fénix III' approached the semi-rigid inflatable boat equipped with three engines that was transporting the bales. At that moment, its crew fled and began throwing part of the cargo they were carrying into the sea, ignoring the acoustic and light signals to stop. After the escape, the patrol boat 'Fénix III' proceeded to board the smuggling vessel.

The four crew members, all of Moroccan nationality, were immediately arrested and the boat and the cargo it was carrying were seized.

At the same time, the patrol boat 'Colimbo II' was responsible for tracking and recovering the bales thrown into the sea.

The drugs, the seized vessel and the detainees were then transported to the Customs Surveillance Maritime Base in Motril, where the corresponding proceedings were initiated.

The total amount of the seized goods amounts to 68 bales with a total weight of approximately 2,364 kilos of hashish resin, whose market value is estimated to exceed 15 million euros.

Both the detainees and the seized goods have been placed at the disposal of the Motril Court on duty, which has ordered the imprisonment of the four detainees.

The operation is part of a special surveillance operation carried out by the Customs Department of the Tax Agency on the Andalusian coast and on vessels potentially susceptible to engaging in illegal activities.

The investigation by Customs Surveillance officials in Motril is still ongoing, so new arrests cannot be ruled out in the coming days.