SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, 26 Sep. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Officials from the Customs Surveillance Service of the Tax Agency, aboard the Special Operations Vessel ‘Petrel’, in collaboration with the French patrol boat ‘DFP3-JF Deniau’, have intervened in Atlantic waters north-west of the Canary Islands, seizing an unregistered fishing boat that was transporting 500 kilograms of cocaine, leading to the arrest of its six crew members, all Brazilian nationals.
Spanish and French customs vessels were dispatched to the area as part of the operation named ‘Pascal-Lino 2024’, a cooperative exercise developed by the customs authorities of Spain and France across various settings in recent years.
The operation commenced when aerial assets involved managed to identify a fishing vessel exhibiting suspicious characteristics and behaviour, as it navigated erratically with no other fishing vessels in the vicinity.
It was on Monday morning that naval resources proceeded towards the location of this vessel, situated over 300 miles north-west of the Canary Islands, to ascertain the identity of the ship and investigate the circumstances surrounding its activities in the region.
There were six individuals on the fishing boat, all of whom claimed to be engaged in fishing in the area.
Nevertheless, the crew’s conduct, the neglected state of the fishing gear, and significant safety and documentation shortfalls observed heightened the initial suspicions of the officials. They discovered among the extensive assortment of nets and gear several sacks which, upon investigation with portable radiological inspection equipment from the ‘Petrel’, turned out to be bales typically used for transporting narcotic substances.
As a consequence of this operation, a total of 20 bales of cocaine were confiscated, weighing approximately 500 kilograms, resulting in the apprehension of the crew members aboard the vessel.
The vessel ‘Petrel’ reached the port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife on Thursday to offload the drugs and present the detainees before the Court on Duty.
The relevant judicial procedures are now being managed by the National Court, as reported by the Customs Agency in a statement.
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