Joint operation of the Tax Agency with the National Police, the Judicial Police of Portugal and the Federal Police of Brazil

• Ten crew members arrested on the vessel – Venezuelan flagged – which could not withstand being towed to port and sank due to the precarious conditions in which it was found

• In the operation, which was led by the Special Anti-Drug Prosecutor's Office, 110 bales of cocaine, each weighing about 30 kilos, were seized after being boarded by the Customs Surveillance vessel 'Petrel' of the Tax Agency.

December 7, 2024.- Agents of the Customs Surveillance Service of the Tax Agency and the National Police, in a joint operation with the American agency DEA, the Judicial Police of Portugal and the Federal Police of Brazil, have managed to intervene in 3,300 kilos of cocaine after the boarding, by the Special Operations Vessel 'Petrel' of Customs Surveillance, of a fishing boat a thousand miles west of the Canary Islands. The ten crew members of the vessel – flying a Venezuelan flag – have been arrested. The vessel was unable to withstand being towed to port due to the precarious conditions in which it was found. In the operation, which was led by the Special Anti-Drug Prosecutor's Office, 110 bales of cocaine weighing around 30 kilos each were seized.

The investigation began in mid-November, thanks to international police cooperation, when agents received information from the American agency DEA. It warned that an international criminal organization was planning to transport a large quantity of cocaine across the Atlantic Ocean. The mother ship was a fishing vessel, flying the Venezuelan flag, which had allegedly already set off from somewhere on the South American coast towards the Spanish coast. From that moment on, agents from the Tax Agency's Customs Surveillance Service coordinated their actions with the National Police to intercept the vessel as soon as possible.

A few days later, the DEA reported that the vessel was sailing to transfer the drugs it was transporting to another fishing vessel, probably flying a Spanish flag, which was fishing in the area it was heading to. Intelligence work led to the conclusion that once the drugs were on the receiving ship, it would head towards the Spanish coast to stash them.

At the end of November, agents from the National Police and the Customs Surveillance Service of the Tax Agency – under the direction of the Special Anti-Drug Prosecutor's Office of the National Court – coordinated the operation aimed at locating the vessel under investigation. Once the alert was received, the fishing boat's course was provided and the crew's modus operandi was known, early interdiction was designed as the most effective scenario to prevent the drugs from being diverted in a diversified manner to Spain and, therefore, ensure the seizure of the cocaine.

110 bales of 30 kilos of cocaine each were found on board

Finally, on November 29, the Customs Surveillance Special Operations Vessel 'Petrel' detected a vessel, sailing without lights and heading towards Spain, which, based on its characteristics, indicated that it was the fishing vessel that was being sought. Once intercepted, the agents verified that the crew was throwing a series of packages from the stern compatible with those normally used to transport drugs. Once on board, the Petrel's crew located a total of 110 bales of narcotics – weighing around 30 kilos each – whose total weight exceeded 3,300 kilos. The agents also arrested the 10 crew members – all of them Venezuelan nationals, except for one Colombian citizen.

Given the precarious condition of the vessel – which had at least two open water leaks, making it impossible to tow it to port – and the danger it posed to the people on board, it was sunk. On the other hand, those arrested and the seized drugs were transferred to the Port of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.