MADRID: The police and the Spanish navy have successfully intercepted a fishing boat flying the Polynesian flag 1,480 kilometres from the Canaries, and have taken into custody the 1,950 kilograms of cocaine which were being Two tons of cocaine intercepted on its way to Spain transported to Spain.
According to the Ministry of the Interior this is the largest cocaine haul in recent years, and the cargo on board the “Walrus” brings the total intercepted this year to approximately 5 tons.
The Walrus is registered on the Pacific island of Palau, and is skippered by a Dutchman who is resident in the Costa del Sol. This individual has been suspected of drug smuggling for some time, and he was arrested along with three other crew members from Cabo Verde in the operation carried out by a special police operation team on board the navy vessel “Meteoro”.
The drugs were taken on board the Walrus in the Caribbean before she set out across the Atlantic towards Spain, but she was intercepted before any plan to transfer all or part of the cocaine to another vessel had been implemented. The voyage back to port was made difficult by technical failures in the Walrus, but despite unfriendly sea conditions the operation was concluded successfully.
This is the fourth cocaine shipment intercepted by the police and the Guardia Civil in the Atlantic off the Canaries this year, including an operation in January when 1,500 kilos were confiscated from the Venezuelan fishing boat “Coral I” 1,200 kilometres west of Cabo Verde.
