Several agents of the Guardia Civil and the National Police. Photo By Adrian Irago/Europa Press via Getty Images
A cargo vessel sailing from West Africa toward the Mediterranean has become the centrepiece of what Spanish authorities are calling a record-breaking drug operation, after officers seized up to 40 tonnes of cocaine from the ship in waters off northwest Africa.
The vessel, registered in the Comoros Islands, had departed Freetown, Sierra Leone, on 22 April before being intercepted near Dakhla, a city on the Western Saharan coast. It was stopped by the Guardia Civil’s Central Operational Unit — a specialised division targeting organised crime — acting under the coordination of Spain’s High Court as part of a sweeping crackdown on international drug trafficking.
Officials placed the quantity of cocaine recovered at between 35,000kg and 40,000kg, describing the haul as “record-breaking” along the Atlantic corridor, the critical maritime artery connecting Latin American drug suppliers to European consumer markets. While authorities have not disclosed the shipment’s estimated street value, analysts say consignments of this magnitude typically fetch billions of dollars once broken down for European distribution.
Twenty-three people were arrested in connection with the operation, among them Filipino, Angolan, and Dutch nationals, reflecting the multinational character of the trafficking network involved. The vessel has since been escorted to Las Palmas in Gran Canaria, where it is being held under judicial control as the investigation proceeds.
Officials familiar with the case, speaking on condition of anonymity given the active proceedings, said the bust lays bare the growing sophistication of transnational trafficking organisations exploiting West African sea lanes. The region has steadily evolved into a preferred transit hub for narcotics destined for Europe, with criminal networks taking advantage of vast, difficult-to-monitor stretches of ocean.
The Guardia Civil’s main union, AUGC, released images of the confiscated drugs, offering a rare visual measure of an operation whose scale has drawn attention across European law enforcement circles.
By: Andrews Kwesi Yeboah