• After its interception, the ship was transferred to the port of Isla Cristina (Huelva) where the drugs were found.

February 2, 2024.- Customs Surveillance of the Tax Agency and the Civil Guard, in a joint operation, have arrested six people as alleged perpetrators of a crime against public health due to drug trafficking, after the intervention of 276 kilos of cocaine in a fishing boat intercepted in the waters of the Gulf of Cádiz.

As part of the investigations carried out, the Civil Guard learned that on the morning of January 29, a boat loaded with drugs was moving through the waters of the Gulf of Cadiz.

For this reason, a naval and aerial device was established, made up of a helicopter from the Customs Surveillance Service and naval resources from the Provincial Maritime Service of the Civil Guard, carrying out the interception of a fishing vessel that was operating in the Gulf of Cadiz and that appeared to be carrying out daily trawling activities, being transferred to the port of Isla Cristina, to proceed with its inspection.

Once on land, 21 packages of different sizes were found inside the boat, containing 276 kilos of cocaine, and the three crew members, of Spanish nationality, were arrested.

In a second phase of the operation, a semi-rigid boat, known as a 'narco-boat', was detected and intercepted, which according to investigations had transferred the drugs to the fishing boat before its seizure. The vessel was manned by three people of Spanish nationality, who were also arrested and taken to land.

The six detainees were sent to prison after being brought before the courts of Ayamonte.

The operation involved officials from the Customs Surveillance Service of the Tax Agency in Huelva, agents from the Huelva Civil Guard Command of the Organized Crime and Anti-Drug Team (EDOA), the Provincial Maritime Service, the Huelva COS Central, the Canine Service and patrols from the Ayamonte Company.