• Within the framework of an international operation against drug trafficking, under the coordination of Ameripol and the American agency DEA, in which the Brazilian and French authorities, and the Spanish Navy, have collaborated

• The two crew members of the boat, which came from South America, heading to the Canary Islands, were arrested

February 29, 2024.- Customs Surveillance officials of the Tax Agency, in a joint operation with the National Police and the Civil Guard, have intercepted in waters near Cape Verde a 'narco-sailboat' that was heading to the Spanish coast with 200 kilos of cocaine. The two crew members of the boat, which was coming from South America and heading to the Canary Islands, have been arrested. The operation was carried out under the coordination of Ameripol and the American agency DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration), with the collaboration of the Brazilian and French authorities, and the Spanish Navy.

The investigation began last year when, through international police cooperation channels, agents learned of the arrival in Spain of several members of a criminal organization in search of contacts in the Canary Islands to import cocaine hydrochloride.

Initial police investigations identified the person who was to lead the operation in Las Palmas to charter a sailboat from South America. From that point on, actions were coordinated through the liaison officer in Ameripol. The deployment of operations in several countries – mainly in Brazil, but also in Colombia and Uruguay – together with the Spanish National Police and the French authorities, allowed several members of the criminal organisation to be identified at their source. The identification of the ship's captain, a French citizen with ties to the Canary Islands, enabled the detection of a sailboat of almost 19 metres in length, flying the Polish flag.

As the investigation progressed, it was confirmed that the suspect born in the Canary Islands, the head of the Spanish group that was to receive the cocaine, had moved to Brazil to personally command and coordinate the importation of the narcotic substance from the water. Once everything was planned, the two suspects left Brazil and began sailing towards the Spanish coast.

The National Police, together with the Spanish Navy, prepared a naval operation with the aim of locating the vessel, which ended with the sailboat being boarded safely by the Special Operations Group (GEO). Agents from the Civil Guard and officials from the Tax Agency's Customs Surveillance Service collaborated in the operation, locating numerous packages of cocaine hidden on the boat.

The operation culminated in the arrest of the two crew members and their transfer (along with the sailboat) to the Canary Islands, where they were searched. A criminal group specialising in the introduction and distribution of large quantities of cocaine into Europe via the Canary Islands has been dismantled, although the investigation remains open and new arrests are not ruled out.