• The presence of the Customs Surveillance patrol boat managed to prevent a drug transfer using the 'drop off' method, which consists of throwing the merchandise from a merchant ship for collection by smaller vessels near the destination country.

February 12, 2025.- Customs Surveillance officials from the Tax Agency seized 34 kilos of cocaine in the Ibiza Channel on January 20 and thwarted an attempted shipment, given that the presence of the Customs Surveillance patrol boat managed to prevent a drug transfer that was going to be carried out by throwing the merchandise from a merchant ship for later collection by smaller vessels.

The drugs were discovered during an air-naval operation carried out on the morning of the 20th by the Palma-based Customs Surveillance patrol boat 'Paiño', when it was sailing on preventive duty along a normal maritime route. At one point, the crew of the patrol boat observed two packages floating in the sea tied by a rope, which were adrift.

Once the floating packages were hoisted onto the patrol boat, it was observed that they were wrapped in black plastic and duct tape. Inside, 30 plastic-wrapped packages were found, which were tested with a 'narcotest' and came back positive for cocaine. The packages had a gross weight of 34 kilos and their sale would have been worth more than two million euros.

The presence of the Customs Surveillance patrol thwarted the attempt to stash the cocaine recovered using the 'drop-off' technique.

According to the 'drop-off' technique, corrupt crew members of merchant ships on a regular route throw floating packages of narcotics into the sea, which are later recovered from the sea by an organization based in the drug destination areas, which uses smaller vessels in coordination with corrupt crew members of the merchant ship.

This is not the first time that Customs Surveillance in the Balearic Islands has intercepted a 'drop-off'. In August 2018, the company seized 334 kilos on board the motorboat 'HCH-X', whose five crew members had recovered the bales from the sea after they had been thrown from the merchant ship 'Erato' as it passed through waters near Ibiza.

The patrol boats stationed in the Balearic Islands, 'Paiño' and 'Colimbo IV', have participated in the air-naval operation, together with a Customs Surveillance helicopter, in order to combat drug trafficking in the so-called Ibiza Channel, waters that separate Ibiza from Jávea.

Given the circumstances of the discovery, no arrests have been made and investigations continue. The seizure by the Regional Customs Surveillance Area of the Balearic Islands was carried out following the guidelines set by the Subdirectorate of Customs Surveillance Operations for the year 2025, which establishes operations focused on intensifying the fight against illicit trafficking by sea and the special protection of commercial traffic.