• The intercepted boat was carrying 22 bales of narcotic substances and was equipped with the necessary material for its subsequent stash.
• The intervention was carried out in the vicinity of the western islands by the ship 'Cóndor' of the Customs Surveillance Service, during the course of the patrol and surveillance tasks entrusted to it.
• As a result of the operation, its four crew members, of different nationalities, were arrested, including a Spanish citizen.

January 14, 2024.- Customs Surveillance officials from the Tax Agency, in a joint operation with the National Police and the Civil Guard, have intervened in a semi-rigid boat with 500 kilos of cocaine in waters near the Canary Islands.

The operation took place on January 5, when Customs Surveillance officials on board the Tax Agency's patrol boat 'Cóndor', in the exercise of their functions of prevention and repression of smuggling and drug trafficking, began patrolling southwest of the islands at 00:30 hours. The operation was carried out in collaboration with CITCO (Center for Intelligence against Terrorism and Organized Crime) and MAOC-N (Center for Maritime Analysis and Operations in Drug Trafficking).

Following an intense search, at 2:30 p.m. on the same day, the patrol boat located a small inflatable boat with an outboard motor in waters near the island of El Hierro heading south of the Canary Islands, which raised suspicions because it was outside the maritime space for this type of boat and which, as the 'Cóndor' approached, began an evasive maneuver.

Once the pursuit of the vessel was over, the patrol officers proceeded to board it, finding a considerable number of bags containing cocaine at first sight. In addition, various items of equipment such as gasoline canisters, food supplies, etc. were detected.

A total of 22 packages were seized, divided between burlap sacks and waterproof bags, with a total gross weight of 519 kilos. The crew of the seized vessel, consisting of one Spanish citizen, one Colombian citizen and two Moroccan citizens, were arrested and transferred along with the cargo to the patrol boat 'Cóndor' for safekeeping, given the precarious state of the intercepted vessel.

The following day, once docked at the port of Las Palmas, a joint team of Customs Surveillance, National Police and Civil Guard proceeded to unload the seized items and bring the narcotic substance and the four detainees to court. The case is being investigated by Central Court No. 1 of the National Court.