Aluminum patrol boats for the Civil Guard against the attacks of the 'narco-boats'

A Civil Guard patrol boat watches over the Strait of Gibraltar in an archive image. Julián Rojas

Wednesday, January 31, at noon.

Mouth of the Guadalquivir River.

A 12-meter-long semi-rigid boat with four outboard motors, similar to those used by traffickers to transport drugs on the Andalusian coast, remains at sea with the tide.

Inside, four men rest with more than 2,000 liters of gasoline in jugs on board, an activity known as

petaqueo and

which supposedly serves to supply gasoline to the

drug boats

that enter upriver to unload hashish from Morocco.

The Río Águeda

Civil Guard patrol boat

approaches the boat to intercept it, but its occupants notice the police presence and try to flee.

However, for unknown reasons, instead of moving away, the boat heads towards the police boat and crashes.

One of its occupants dies hours later from the injuries suffered.

The violent reaction of some traffickers when they are intercepted at sea by Civil Guard boats has led the top officials of the armed institute to opt for the purchase of high-speed patrol boats capable of resisting the attacks of the drug boats they are trying to

attack

. intercept.

After acquiring two of these reinforced boats in 2021, measuring 18.5 meters in length and capable of exceeding 55 knots of speed, the Ministry of the Interior has launched two other competitions to provide the armed institute with six more for a similar amount. at 15 million euros.

Two are scheduled to be delivered in the first half of this year.

The rest, between 2025 and 2026. Both those already operational and the new ones, will be built of aluminum, a stronger material than the GRP (polyester reinforced with fiberglass) of the previous patrol boats.

“The violence of these actions makes it necessary for the hulls and structure of future vessels to be made of more resistant materials than those of the current fleet,” is highlighted in the files of both contests, to which EL PAÍS has had access.

More information

A trafficker dies after crashing his boat into a Civil Guard patrol boat in Cádiz

Currently, the Maritime Service of the Civil Guard has about 140 vessels, according to sources from the armed institute.

The same sources recognize that, in some of the high-speed boats—those used to intercept fast

drug boats

—the recommended useful life has been “exceeded.”

“A third of said fleet is around 20 years old, even exceeding it in some cases.

In view of the typology of the service and its execution regime, from a technical and safety point of view, the useful life of this type of naval means is estimated at 15 years," highlights the reports of the files to acquire the new ships.

The aforementioned documents admit that there are some that no longer meet the conditions “necessary for the services they provide” and that the spare parts that are sometimes needed are no longer available as they have been discontinued by the manufacturing companies.

“We have to renew the fleet and it is being done, as with the rest of the vehicles used by the Civil Guard,” sources from the General Directorate justify.

However, the deadlines for this renewal do not convince the agents themselves.

The fatal accident last Wednesday occurred in a Guadalquivir increasingly plagued by

drug boats

that travel along the river with apparent impunity.

In recent months, professional associations of civil guards have released videos in which several of these boats (in one case, up to a dozen) are seen navigating the river in the face of the helplessness of the agents.

“We are overwhelmed,” explains a civil guard familiar with the situation.

The Maritime Service of the Cádiz Command covers the strip of coast that goes from Barbate to Sanlúcar de Barrameda with 10 skippers, 28 sailors and three patrol boats.

“One is 20 years old, the other seven and a new one that has broken down,” that agent denounces.

Barely 22 knots of speed on the water

The largest of these boats, the

Río Agueda

, travels at just 22 knots, compared to up to 80 that a

narco-boat

can reach .

“It's not just that this one runs little, it's that those of the drug traffickers run a lot,” the Unified Association of the Civil Guard (AUGC) complains.

Justice for the Civil Guard (Jucil, the majority association among agents) also speaks of lack of means: "Having just one boat to cover that coastline gives a great feeling of helplessness."

However, sources from the Civil Guard reject these criticisms: “There are vessels that are not operational due to a breakdown or because they are undergoing maintenance, but that is within the norm.

The vessels that provide service are operating adequately,” they emphasize.

The Interior's decision to acquire new high-speed boats with reinforced hulls is well received by the civil guards, although they consider it insufficient.

An agent stationed in the area shows his skepticism: “Politicians believe that the fight is to chase them and reach them, and that is not the case.

“It is not the only solution to go at 65 knots, but to attack the organizations with investigations on the ground,” he points out.

Jucil sources add that, in addition to means, they need “adequate legislation,” in reference to the legal change that the Anti-Drug Prosecutor's Office is promoting so that the transportation of fuel for drug trafficking—the

petaqueo

, the activity that was allegedly carried out by the boat that the Wednesday he crashed into a patrol car—he will be punished.

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