SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, December 28. (EUROPA PRESS) –
During a joint operation, the Civil Guard, the Tax Agency and the National Police have seized a total of 2,000 kilograms of cocaine that was hidden in the ballast tank of a merchant ship docked in the Port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
In a statement, the three institutions have indicated that the operation began early on December 18 with the arrival at port of the ‘Grande Francia’ ship, flying the Italian flag.
It is a 214 meter long vessel, one of the so-called ‘Ro-Ro’, which transports rolled cargo and which came from Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) carrying out one of the ‘hot routes’ for drug trafficking, with following destination in the French port of Marseille.
Upon the ship’s arrival in Tenerife, a joint team made up of agents from the Civil Guard and the National Police and officials from the Tax Agency, proceeded to carry out one of the so-called ‘anchoring visits’, with several relays throughout. more than 15 hours in which all the ship’s facilities were inspected.
In this way, the agents’ attention was drawn to a ballast tank of the merchant ship, and once the tank was opened, a large number of burlap packages of those usually used by drug trafficking organizations were found inside. the transfer of drugs.
For its part, a total of 69 bales were detected inside the tank, yielding a total gross weight of 2,055 kilos of cocaine.
Along with the drug bales, various material was found (life jackets, geolocation devices, ropes, food, fuel bottles, etc.) that, presumably, the members of the criminal organization would use at the time to remove the merchandise from the ship. .
In addition to the seizure of the narcotic substance, six people were arrested: five crew members of the ship – one of Italian nationality, another Romanian, and three from the Philippines – and a Filipino citizen who was staying on the island at that time.
Finally, the detainees, along with the drugs, have been placed at the disposal of the Court of Instruction number 3 of Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
