© picture alliance/dpa | Clara Margais
Spanish authorities made the largest drug seizure ever last Monday, following the interception of the ship Arconian off the coast of Western Sahara.
On board was found to be 30,215 kilos of cocaine, spread in 1,279 packages. Also found were 42,000 liters of gasoline intended for speedboats that were to transport the drugs to the Spanish mainland. This was reported by Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska at a press conference onFriday.
The ship was flying the flag of the Comoros and had departed from Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone, on April 22. The Dutch investigative services received a tip through a criminal informant that the ship was carrying drugs and heading for Libya, and informed the Spanish authorities. The Arconian was intercepted and escorted to Gran Canaria, where all 23 crew members were arrested.
According to documents that the AD was able to review, among those arrested were five Dutch and one Surinamese. According to Spanish newspaper El País, they were responsible for guarding the cargo and were hiding in the bow of the ship during the raid, armed with three machine guns, two pistols and a large quantity of ammunition. Several of the suspects had been previously convicted of violence or drug-related offenses.
The capture is associated with Dutch drug criminal "Bolle Jos," who is reportedly holed up in Sierra Leone and allegedly has contacts in government circles there.
In addition to this record catch, a series of operations by Europol between April 13 and 26 led to 545 arrests and the seizure of more than 11,000 kilos of cocaine and 8,000 kilos of hashish. This disrupted an "important highway for the transportation of cocaine in the Atlantic," writes the European investigative organization.
Picture: © picture alliance/dpa | Clara Margais