• The drugs were hidden in containers that the ship's crew used to store the waste from the trip.

• The operation was carried out by the Risk Analysis Unit of the Regional Customs and Customs Unit of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, made up of Customs Surveillance officers and Civil Guard agents.

October 20, 2023.- Customs Surveillance officials from the Tax Agency and agents from the Civil Guard, in a joint operation, have seized 950 kilos of cocaine in Santa Cruz de Tenerife that were traveling hidden on a ship from Brazil.

As a result of the work carried out by the Risk Analysis Unit of the Regional Customs and Customs Office of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, the merchandise and rolling cargo on a ship, originating in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) and destined for Antwerp (Belgium), which had docked on October 7 at the Santa Cruz de Tenerife dock, was inspected.

As a result of the inspection, which was carried out jointly by officers from the Combined Customs Surveillance Unit and agents from the Fiscal and Border Protection Section of the Civil Guard of the port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, a series of suspicious packages that could contain narcotic substances were located inside three containers. These containers were used by the ship's crew to deposit the waste generated during the voyage, and were to be unloaded by a waste removal company that is responsible for this service.

When inspecting the containers, 65 packages of different sizes were detected inside. After carrying out the drug test, the agents confirmed that they were packages of cocaine, weighing approximately 950 kilos.

The ship had been travelling through various South American ports and its stop prior to Rio de Janeiro was in the Brazilian port of Santos. There, Brazilian authorities caught an individual trying to hide 350 kilos of cocaine in the engine of a truck that was inside the ship and the waste containers were emptied. The ship then headed to Rio de Janeiro and from there set sail for Tenerife.

The facts were brought to the attention of the on-duty Court of Instruction in Santa Cruz de Tenerife.