Crime27 January, 20262 min read
Spanish Police Seize 10 Tonnes of Cocaine, Arrest 105 Suspects in Atlantic Floating Base Ring
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About 10 tonnes of cocaine seized; 105 suspects arrested. Operation used speed boats from Atlantic floating bases to land drugs.
Atlantic cocaine operation
Spanish police broke up a cocaine trafficking operation that used speed boats to bring drugs onshore from floating bases in the Atlantic, seizing around 10 tonnes of cocaine and arresting 105 suspects. The South China Morning Post said a year-long investigation showed the group brought an estimated 57 tonnes of cocaine to Europe in the period, with speed boats operating at night from rivers in southern Spain, the northwestern Galicia region and the Canary Islands, as well as from Portugal and Morocco.
A police statement described how “They managed to create genuine aquatic platforms where pilots would remain at sea for over a month at a time, carrying out several successive operations”. The operation also involved officers seizing 30 boats, 70 vehicles, and numerous pieces of hi-tech communications and surveillance equipment, while the Baird Maritime report described the same core case as a speedboat network from Atlantic offshore bases.
Payments and arrests
The investigation described by the South China Morning Post said that at one point the group paid as much as €12 million (US$14.2 million) to the family of a deceased crew member in order to buy their silence. In Galicia, Cadena SER reported that two people in Lourizán were arrested for moving large quantities of cocaine originating from the Salnés region, as eight people were detained across the provinces of A Coruña and Pontevedra.
Cadena SER said the operation outcome included “five and a half kilograms of cocaine, €40,000 in cash, and several high-end vehicles,” and it identified the center of operations as a store selling sneakers and high-end sportswear in the city of A Coruña. La Opinión A Coruña said the operation ended with the arrest of eight people—seven of whom have been jailed—and 12 house searches, and it described the sneaker store on Emilia Pardo Bazán Street as a front for the direct sale of illicit substances.
Court dates and seizures
In the Lourizán case, investigators said a warehouse-type building in the outskirts of Pontevedra was used for exchanging cocaine packages, and on January 15 an investigated person was found hiding a bag with two one-kilogram packages of cocaine each.
El Español reported that on January 16 a vehicle was seen driving on the AP-9 highway toward A Coruña, and agents intercepted it and found the occupant carrying three packages of cocaine, each weighing one kilogram.
El Español said the operation was carried out on January 20 under the supervision of the Investigating Court No. 3 of A Coruña, with eight people detained and 12 searches at properties in A Coruña, Arteixo, Ferrol, and Pontevedra.
ABC said that after giving statements, the judicial authority ordered remand in custody for seven of the eight detainees as alleged perpetrators of the crimes under investigation, alongside seizures of around five and a half kilograms of high-purity cocaine, nearly 40,000 euros in cash, and a Taser.