The Atlantic cocaine route is becoming very difficult for the drug traffickers.
So far this year, the
Fulmar
prison ship , of the Customs Surveillance Service (SVA), has seized 12.6 tons of cocaine during its prowl through the waters of the Canary Islands.
The last blow was dealt this weekend with the boarding of the sailboat
My love
, with a Belgian flag and two Spanish crew members, towards which the customs officers sailed towing another sailboat (named
Here Serca)
that they had intercepted, also stuffed with cocaine. .
The two sloops together carried 1,139 kilos of cocaine and, finally, both had to be towed by the
Fulmar
to the port of Tenerife, where they arrived with calm waters this Tuesday morning.
The special operations ship of the Ministry of Finance received the order on March 3 to sail towards a suspicious vessel that was located about 350 miles from Santa Cruz de Tenerife (about 650 kilometers, like the distance between Madrid and Malaga).
Spanish law enforcement authorities had been alerted by the US DEA by the British NCA that the yacht was within range of the
Fulmar
.
The customs officials were already towing another ship to the Canary Islands, the
Aquí serca,
seized after a joint anti-drug operation with the National Police and the Civil Guard.
Despite the fact that "the maneuvers were much more difficult" due to the bad state of the sea and having a tow line laid, the SVA special operations ship found the
My Love
and boarded it, after requesting authorization from the authorities. from Belgium.
The drugs were in the bow cabin of the yacht, a Bavaria of about 15 meters in length, with a huge central cabin.
The sailboats carried 22 bales of cocaine, which weighed 1,139 kilos, of which 600 were on the
Here near
and the other 539 on the
My Love.
This operation has been directed and coordinated by the Anti-drug Prosecutor of the National Court and the Central Court of Instruction number 5 of the National Court.
With this new operation, since the beginning of 2023, the Spanish security forces have intercepted cocaine shipments from the Canary Islands in the Atlantic totaling 12.6 tons: 4,500 kilos on board the merchant ship Blume, 2,500 kilos on the sailing ship Mambo,
4,500
kilos
on
the cattle transport ship
Orion
, and the 1,139 kilos of the two new sailboats, with a total of 51 detainees.
