Operation of the Tax Agency, National Police and Civil Guard

• The boarding was carried out by the patrol boat 'Petrel' of the Customs Surveillance Service 400 miles from the islands.

• The two crew members of the Polish-flagged ship arrested 

• The drugs were distributed inside the boat without any concealment technique.

December 9, 2023.- The Customs Surveillance Service of the Tax Agency, the National Police and the Civil Guard, in a joint operation, have intercepted a semi-rigid boat 400 miles from the Canary Islands cabin, named 'SRC 1250', 12.5 meters long, and flying the Polish flag, which was carrying around 2,500 kilos of cocaine inside, in the absence of official weighing, divided into 86 bales, according to first estimates.

The boarding by the Customs Surveillance patrol boat 'Petrel' was carried out in a context of harsh weather conditions. During the course of the operation, the two crew members, of French nationality, were arrested.

The narcotic substance was distributed throughout the interior of the boat without any concealment technique, something logical given its small dimensions, which suggests that a transfer would be carried out to another or other boats that would be responsible for introducing the drug into the peninsula.

The operation, the result of international collaboration through the Center for Analysis against Maritime Drug Trafficking in the Atlantic (MAOC) and coordinated by the Center for Intelligence with Terrorism and Organized Crime (CITCO), has been carried out under very adverse conditions. due to the existence of a storm in the area.

The operation culminated today with the arrival of the 'Petrel' and the boarded vessel at the port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, for the unloading of the drugs and bringing the detainees to judicial custody by the Customs Surveillance, National Police and Civil Guard.

Atlantic route

This operation is added to those already carried out by the Tax Agency and the Security Forces in the fight against drug trafficking in the so-called 'Atlantic Route' of cocaine, known for being used by sailboats, fishing vessels, merchants and, as in This time, semi-rigid boats that, coming from South America and the Caribbean, transship narcotic substances in the middle of the Atlantic for their subsequent introduction into the European continent.

On this occasion, the fact that a vessel of this type was in the middle of the Atlantic has caught the attention of investigators, and it was foreseeable that it would have some type of logistical support to carry out the operation.

The success of this type of action is the result of the excellent collaborative work between several European and national organizations (MAOC, CITCO) and the different police and customs forces, as well as, in this case, the cooperation of the DEA authorities and of the NCA of the United Kingdom.