One tonne of cocaine seized on a fishing boat headed to Spain in waters near Cape Verde
Joint operation of the Tax Agency, National Police and the Portuguese Judicial Police
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The six crew members on the boat, which was not flying a flag, have been arrested
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The operation was carried out in collaboration with the American DEA and the Spanish Navy
September 28, 2023.- Officials from the Customs Surveillance of the Tax Agency, in a joint operation with the National Police and the Portuguese Judicial Police, have seized an unflagged fishing vessel in waters near Cape Verde loaded with 1,000 kilos of cocaine. The operation was carried out in collaboration with the American agency DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) and the Spanish Navy. The six crew members of the boat, which was sailing to Spain, have been arrested.
The investigation is the result of existing international channels for the fight against drug trafficking, through which information was received from the North American agency, warning of the existence of an international criminal organization that was attempting to transfer a large quantity of cocaine from one ship to another on the high seas.
The information available to the investigators coincided with that in the possession of the Anti-Drug Trafficking Investigation Units of the Portuguese Judicial Police, and a joint operation was set up to locate the exact location of the cocaine shipment. Given the alert received, the rapid interception of the vessel was designed as the most effective scenario to prevent the drugs from being diverted in a diverse manner to Spain.
Boarding in the Atlantic Ocean by the patrol boat 'Fulmar'
From that moment on, the National Police coordinated with the Customs Surveillance of the Tax Agency to locate the point where the vessel was located and carry out the boarding of it, which was finally carried out by the patrol boat 'Fulmar' of the Tax Agency in the Atlantic Ocean, 600 miles from Cape Verde.
The officers observed that the vessel, named 'Mathieu' and registered in the port of Georgetown, was sailing without a flag. From this point on, the Guyanese authorities were asked to confirm the registration of this vessel in their country and to authorise its transfer to the nearest Spanish port.
40 bales of cocaine on the stern deck
During the course of the intervention, the agents found 40 bales of the type normally used to transport cocaine hydrochloride on the stern deck. In light of the events, the agents arrested the six crew members of the fishing boat, two of them of Albanian nationality and the rest of Guyanese nationality, and seized the vessel.
Once the detainees had been transferred aboard the 'Fulmar', the fishing boat was towed and transferred on the Spanish vessel to the port of Arrecife (Lanzarote).
Operation filming (to download the video, enter the following web address):