© picture alliance / Zoonar | Phil Bird
Drug smugglers are increasingly moving away from major ports such as Antwerp, Rotterdam or Hamburg and are increasingly bringing drugs ashore in Spain and Portugal by speedboats.
Europe's fight against drug smuggling is moving from the ports of Antwerp and Rotterdam to the coasts of Spain and Portugal. Two Spanish agents of the Guardia Civil were killed Friday in a sea pursuit near Huelva. A similar incident also occurred in 2024, in which two agents also died, and in October 2025 in Portugal, where an agent also lost his life.
Major drug cartels are increasingly shunning commercial ports and taking a new approach: cocaine is transhipped on the high seas from cargo ships onto super-fast, specially equipped speedboats that can carry up to 3 tons of drugs and reach speeds of more than 90 mph.
No police or coast guard agency has vessels that can keep up with that. The boats are also accompanied by armed escort vessels carrying heavily armed smugglers. The Spanish police union warns in Spain's El Mundo newspaper that officers are no match for the drug cartels' resources.
The estuaries along the southern Spanish and Portuguese coasts, with rivers such as the Guadalquivir and Guadiana, are increasingly being used to bring drugs ashore undetected, sometimes deep inland.
Earlier this week, the Guardia Civil intercepted the cargo ship Arconian with more than 30 tons of cocaine on board, the largest ever haul at sea. The ship had departed from Sierra Leone and was believed to be en route to supply speedboats. Among the 23 crew members arrested were five heavily armed Dutchmen. According to the Algemeen Dagblad, the tip about this freighter came from the Netherlands. The involvement of Dutch nationals and the link to Sierra Leone may point to Dutch top criminal 'Bolle Jos' Leijdekkers.
Picture: © picture alliance / Zoonar | Phil Bird