Spain Seizes Record Amount Of Cocaine In Atlantic Ocean

MADRID, Jan 13 (Bernama-dpa) -- Spanish special forces have seized nearly 10 tonnes of cocaine on a freighter coming from Brazil in the Atlantic Ocean, authorities said on Monday, reported German Press Agency (dpa).

The authorities, in a ​​​​​​statement, said the historic blow against the South American cocaine mafia took place last week with the largest cocaine seizure on the high seas in the history of the Spanish National Police.

The ship was intercepted and boarded 290 nautical miles (about 540 kilometres) west of the Canary Islands.

All 13 crew members, reportedly from India and Serbia, were detained after a firearm was confiscated and the cocaine was found hidden in a shipment of salt, added the statement.

The Spanish forces were assisted in their investigations by the United States (US) Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Maritime Analysis and Operations Centre - Narcotics (MAOC-N), to which Germany and other European countries belong, and the authorities in France, Britain and Portugal.

The ship was taken to the port of Santa Cruz in Tenerife, where it has been anchored since Sunday afternoon.

According to Spanish media reports, citing National Police spokesmen, no other European country has ever achieved such a major cocaine bust on the high seas.

Scenes of the operation can be seen in a video released by the Spanish police.

According to findings, Spain is increasingly becoming one of the most important gateways for the South American cocaine trade in Europe.

In October, special police units seized 6.5 tonnes of cocaine on a freighter in the Atlantic.

"The whole of Europe is currently being flooded with cocaine, and Spain plays an important role as a gateway to the continent," Joan Ramón Villalbí, the government commissioner for Spain's National Drug Plan, told Spanish lawmakers last year.

--BERNAMA-dpa