The Tax Agency seizes five tons of hashish in a special operation to reinforce surveillance in the Strait of Gibraltar

Operation 'Marchoco'

• In the space of a week, 24 crews of the Customs Surveillance Service distributed in the 14 patrol vessels stationed in Andalusia have carried out 12 chases, located and monitored 21 'narco-boats' and intervened in two of them, forcing the rest to throw their cargo into the sea and desist from your stash attempts

• The operation has received satellite support with state-of-the-art resources and has had the support of two helicopters and support as a mobile station from the Special Operations Ship 'Fulmar' of the Tax Agency

June 23, 2022.- The Customs Surveillance Service of the Tax Agency has seized five tons of hashish in several actions carried out in the space of a week on semi-rigid boats in the waters of the Strait of Gibraltar and the Alboran Sea. The actions, included in the framework of the special operation called 'Marchoco', to reinforce surveillance in the area, have been carried out in execution of the provisions of the Agency's general control guidelines for 2022, which establishes as a priority the maritime surveillance to combat hashish trafficking from North Africa.

The operation, deployed during the first week of this month of June, has had a wide deployment of naval and air resources and is aimed at the implementation of new procedures for the repression and fight against the illicit activities of the smuggling mafias in the waters. of the Strait and Alboran.

As a result of this operation, 21 'narco-boats' dedicated to the transport of large quantities of hashish from Morocco have been located and monitored in international waters, two semi-rigid boats have been seized and more than five tons of hashish have been seized.

Destabilization of the logistics of organizations

Beyond the volume of seizures, the relevance of the operation is also found in the intense destabilization of logistics and illicit activity that it has entailed in the area, when the aero-naval means of the Customs Surveillance Service carried out a total of 12 pursuits of 'drug boats'. ', who were forced to return seeking refuge in Moroccan waters after having to get rid of their goods by throwing them into the sea, thus frustrating the possible stashes.

Within the framework of the operation, the action carried out by the 'Colimbo II' patrol boat on June 6, in coordination with the 'Argos I' helicopter, stands out with a coordinated high-speed chase of two 'narco-boats' loaded with large quantities of hashish. In this action, one of the boats was intervened and a total of 150 bales (about 4,000 kilos of hashish) were seized, most of them thrown into the sea during the chase and recovered by the auxiliary boats of the 'Fulmar' ship.

Extensive air-naval deployment

24 crews participated in the operation, distributed across the 14 patrol vessels stationed at the maritime bases of the Regional Operational Unit of Andalusia. Furthermore, the 'Fulmar', which left the port of Cádiz at the beginning of the campaign, has acted as a mobile station at sea for the implementation of new initiatives related to operational tactics. In addition, two Customs Surveillance Service helicopters stationed at air bases close to the critical areas of confluence of objectives in the Alborán area have participated and greater satellite coverage has been provided with state-of-the-art resources.

Surveillance and control actions have been planned at a strategic level by the Deputy Directorate of Customs Surveillance. The operation has been directed by the aviation officials of the General Subdirectorate of Operations and the Special Delegation of the Tax Agency in Andalusia, Ceuta and Melilla, coordinated through the Permanent Operational Coordination Center of the Customs Surveillance Service.

This combined action of the air-naval means, reinforced with the support of the Maritime Intelligence Offices of the SVA, is part of the strategy to combat drug trafficking provided for in the 2022 Annual Tax and Customs Control Plan of the Tax Agency.