Operation of the Tax Agency, Civil Guard and National Police

• The special operations vessel 'Petrel' of the Customs Surveillance Service has carried out the boarding within the framework of an international operation coordinated by MAOC-N and CITCO

• Four people of different nationalities have been arrested, including a Galician drug trafficker known to the Security Forces and Corps

• The operation was carried out in cooperation with authorities in the United States and the United Kingdom. 

February 15, 2024.- The Customs Surveillance Service of the Tax Agency, in a joint operation with the Civil Guard and the National Police, has intercepted a semi-rigid boat 500 nautical miles south of the Canary Islands when it was transporting approximately 4,350 kilos of cocaine.

The operation was launched as a result of international collaboration, through the exchange of information between the MAOC-N (Atlantic Analysis and Operations Centre) and the CITCO (Intelligence Centre Against Terrorism and Organised Crime), which was the subject of investigation by Customs Surveillance, the National Police and the Civil Guard. The National Crime Agency (NCA) of the United Kingdom and the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) of the United States collaborated in the operation. 

As a result of this exchange of information, it was determined that a vessel suspected of drug trafficking from South America was involved and that it was part of an international operation to reach the Spanish coast via the Atlantic. 

As a result, the Tax Agency's Customs Surveillance Service established the appropriate air-naval device in order to locate this target. 

Following the interception and boarding of the drug boat, its cargo was immediately detected, which consisted of 4,350 kilos of cocaine. In addition, the four crew members - including a Galician drug trafficker known to the Security Forces and Corps - of Spanish, Romanian, Moroccan and Moldovan nationality were arrested.  

This type of vessel, used in the Atlantic, requires regular assistance to be supplied with water, food and fuel, supplies that are delivered by other sports, fishing or semi-rigid vessels of the same type. 

The operation is not yet complete and the possible presence of other vessels in the area that could be involved is being investigated, so further action cannot be ruled out. 

The operation was directed and coordinated by the Anti-Drug Prosecutor's Office of the National Court. The detainees, the boat and the narcotic substance will be placed at the disposal of the corresponding Central Court of Instruction. 

The operation was carried out within the framework of the fight against drug trafficking on the so-called 'Atlantic cocaine route', known for being used by all types of vessels coming from South America to transfer narcotic substances in the middle of the Atlantic for their subsequent introduction into the European continent.