The Sea Paradise was chartered in the Virgin Islands for a voyage to Europe loaded with cocaine. Ten crew members headed to the Canary Islands, where they planned to transfer the 2,300 kilos of cocaine they were carrying to another smaller ship.
One of the crew members, of Serbian origin, decided to hijack the ship, kill one of his cronies and lock the rest as hostages. The boarding of the tugboat was carried out in November, but the details have not been known until now, when the summary secrecy has been lifted.