Eight drug traffickers, taken hostage by one of their accomplices on a boat, were rescued on the high seas near the Spanish archipelago of the Canaries, in the Atlantic, Spanish police announced on Wednesday.
“Members of a criminal organization were kidnapped by another member of the crew, of Serbian origin, while they were transporting more than 2.3 tons of cocaine between South America and Spain
, ”
police said in a statement, without specifying the country of origin of the drugs.
This unprecedented hostage taking took place last November
"very close to the Canary Islands"
, off the northwest coast of Africa, a police spokeswoman told AFP.
“To take control of the boat, the hostage-taker shot”
one of his accomplices
“and then threw his body into the sea
,” the press release specifies.
“Several hours of negotiation”
Investigators had learned that this boat was to transfer its drug cargo to a smaller boat, the meeting point being located near the Canaries.
A few hours before their intervention, the police and customs officers were informed of the hostage-taking perpetrated by one of the traffickers.
After
“several hours of negotiation”
, the press release continues, the police managed to convince the man to get rid of his weapon and surrender, before arresting him, as well as his eight former accomplices who had become his hostages.
The press release does not specify the reasons which pushed the man to act.
He also does not explain why the police delayed some three months before announcing this operation.
Due to its links with Latin America, Spain is one of the main gateways for cocaine into Europe.