Operation of the Tax Agency, National Police and Civil Guard

• The two crew members of the sailing boat 'Memo' were arrested after being boarding by the Tax Agency's Customs Surveillance vessel 'Petrel I', in a joint operation with the Guardia Civil and the National Police.
• The drugs were found on the deck of the sailing vessel, which was sailing unflagged.
• The shipment originated in South America and may have been destined for the Iberian Peninsula.

September 26, 2021.- The Tax Agency, the National Police and the Civil Guard, in a joint operation, have seized off the coast of the Canary Islands more than 1,200 kilos of cocaine that was traveling aboard a sailboat. The interception of the vessel took place on the morning of the 20th in international waters, some 600 miles west of the Canary Islands, when the crew of the Customs Surveillance patrol boat 'Petrel I', based in Vigo, boarded the sailing vessel, named 'Memo'.

Investigators located a large shipment of cocaine from South America, presumably destined for the Iberian Peninsula, and arrested its two crew members, of Spanish and Italian nationality, who did not put up any resistance. The patrol vessel 'Petrel I' was in the intervention area participating in a joint international maritime operation of Spanish and French customs, named operation 'Pascal-Lino' in homage to two deceased customs officers from both countries.

The boarding was carried out within the framework of international police cooperation between the Tax Agency's Customs Surveillance, the National Police and the Guardia Civil, in collaboration with the British NCA, under the coordination of the Counter Terrorism and Organised Crime Intelligence Centre (CITCO) and MAOC-N (Maritime Analysis and Operations Centre for Drug Trafficking). Thanks to this international cooperation, the initially unknown vessel was located and intercepted.

Transfer of the sailboat to the port of Las Palmas

The vessel was sailing unflagged. After consultation with UK and German authorities, who could not confirm the vessel's flag, the vessel is considered to be a vessel without nationality.

The sailboat, together with the seized drugs and the two arrested crew members, have been transferred to the port of Las Palmas. The joint investigation carried out by the Guardia Civil, National Police and Customs Surveillance of the Tax Agency is still open to identify the criminal group receiving the narcotics and is being led by the Special Anti-Drugs Prosecutor's Office and by the head of the Central Court of Instruction number 2 of the National High Court.