SPAIN – 2.1 tons of cocaine seized

MADRID, September 21 /ATSH-DPA/ – Spanish authorities have seized a yacht carrying 2.1 tons of cocaine, around 650 kilometers off the coast of Galicia, in northwestern Spain.

The yacht, 14 meters long and sailing under a Polish flag, was towed to the port of Vigo.

According to AEAT, the yacht had been under surveillance since its departure in July from the port of Roses, on Spain’s Mediterranean coast, near the border with France.

Spanish customs authorities said the incident may be linked to a criminal group specializing in drug smuggling via sailing yachts.

The group is suspected of having offered services to criminal organizations in Eastern Europe and the Balkans.

The successful operation also involved the French customs authorities, the police of Poland and the United Kingdom, as well as the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

Initially, AEAT did not disclose the origin of the drugs, nor the time and place where the cocaine was loaded onto the yacht.

The agency described the operation as part of the fight against drug trafficking on the so-called “transatlantic cocaine route”.

This route is known for the use of sailboats departing from South America.

The drugs are transferred in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean and then smuggled into Europe as inconspicuously as possible./ /Ad.Ab./ a.jor.