The National Police has dealt a new blow to the criminal organizations dedicated to the introduction of cocaine into Europe from South America by sea, this time a network of Serbian origin that intended to introduce 2,700 kilos of that narcotic substance.
When the sailboat boarded in international waters near the Canary Islands coast, the two crew members were arrested, while the Serbian authorities have arrested four other members of the organization, including its leader, according to the General Directorate of the Police this Friday. .
This seizure is added to three other important drug seizures in known vessels in recent weeks, such as the 700 kilos of cocaine seized on a sailboat about 500 miles northwest of the island of Gran Canaria, the 1,500 kilos of cocaine in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. or the six tons of hashish in the south of the archipelago.
In this latest operation, the network is of Serbian origin and has been tracked since the beginning of 2022 when the country’s authorities alerted to suspicions of a criminal organization that was preparing to transport cocaine by sea.
🚩A Balkan criminal organization dismantled with the intervention of 2.7 tons of #cocaine on a sailboat on the high seas
🔹It was boarded in international waters near #Canary Islands
🔹6 arrested and €550,000 in cash, 2 vehicles and several luxury watches seized pic.twitter.com/9ZnXPe0vwW
— National Police (@policia) September 1, 2023
As the investigations advanced, the agents confirmed that several members of that organization had met in Croatia with the Latin American suppliers of the drug, and in Slovenia those who would later be the crew of the boat used to transport the narcotic were identified, in addition to confirm that several members of the organization traveled on several occasions to the Cape Verde archipelago and Latin American countries such as Colombia and Brazil.
Last June, the 22-meter-long sailboat that had set sail from Brazil and entered the Atlantic about 100 miles was identified, at which time it is believed that it loaded the narcotic.
Once it was certified that the vessel headed to Europe, the necessary mechanisms were activated through CITCO to be able to board it on August 24, 700 miles west of the Canary Islands, carried out by GEO agents on board a ship of the Spanish Navy.
After the operation, the boat was towed by the Spanish ship until due to its condition it sank, which shows that criminal organizations use so-called last trip boats, maximizing profits since they are acquired for a lower price.
