Cocaine smuggling ring used abandoned shipwreck to refuel high-speed "narco boats," police in Spain say
Police forces from several countries have dismantled an international drug trafficking ring that used what authorities called high-speed "narco boats" to smuggle large quantities of cocaine from Brazil and Colombia to Spain's Canary Islands, Spanish police said Friday.
The ring is suspected of using 11 speedboats to pick up drugs from larger "mother ships" in different points in the Atlantic and then bring them to the archipelago located off northwestern Africa, . They also allegedly used an abandoned shipwreck as a refueling platform for the speedboats, authorities said.
It is believed to be "one of the largest criminal organizations dedicated to cocaine trafficking operating from South America to the Canary Islands" using this method, the statement added.
Officers arrested 48 people as part of the operation, which was carried out in cooperation with Britain's National Crime Agency, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and pan-European police agency Europol.
The authorities have so far this year seized nearly 3,800 kilos of cocaine that was being smuggled by the gang, along with 19 boats and around 100,000 euros ($114,000) which belonged to the ring. Six properties and electronic and geolocation equipment were also seized, authorities said.
Police forces from Colombia, France, Portugal, Poland and Cape Verde also took part in the operation.
Spain is a major gateway to Europe for drug trafficking networks due to its ties to former colonies in Latin America and its proximity to Morocco, a top cannabis producer.
The bust was announced one day after the U.S. Treasury announced it had sanctioned six accused drug traffickers allegedly using boats and "narco subs" to traffic cocaine. Four Guyanese nationals and two Colombians — Yeison Andres Sanchez Vallejo and Manuel Salazar — were accused of allegedly trafficking tons of cocaine from South America to the United States, Europe and the Caribbean.
