Spanish police snatch 2.7 tonnes of cocaine off yacht

Spanish police seized nearly three tonnes of cocaine from a yacht west of the Canary Islands and arrested suspected members of a Balkan-based trafficking gang, Europol said Friday.

Heavily armed officers swooped on the boat eight days ago, arresting two crew members — a Ukrainian and a Czech — while police in Serbia arrested four people, included the suspected leader of the ring.

It was the police in Belgrade who launched the investigation into the cartel in January 2022.

“The targeted organisation was… suspected of organising multi-tonne cocaine shipments from Brazil to the EU,” the Hague-based Europol said in a statement.

Spanish police in dinghies backed by a warship intercepted the yacht west of Gran Canaria island and found it was carrying 2.7 tonnes of cocaine hidden in sports bags, Europol said.

“Investigators identified a Serbian national as one of the main organisers of the criminal network,” it said.

The yacht was intercepted in international waters some 700 nautical miles west of the seven-island archipelago and police detained its two crew members, Spain’s national police said in a statement.

They also released a video showing rows of sports bags loaded with cocaine that were found on the boat.

– Encrypted channels cracked –

Police said the yacht sank while they were towing it to port due to its poor condition, highlighting how smuggling gangs often used cheaper second-hand vessels to “maximise profits”.

They also seized two expensive vehicles, luxury watches and more than 550,000 euros ($598,000) in cash.

“These main coordinators of the drug cartel arranged the shipping operations via encrypted communications platforms,” said Europol.

Law enforcement used dismantled encrypted communications tools like EncroChat, Sky EEC and Anom to get “unprecedented” insight into the cartel’s workings.

“One trend uncovered was the important role that criminal networks, largely composed of nationals from countries in the Balkans region, play in the global cocaine trade,” Europol said.

Last Friday, Spanish police and customs said they had seized nearly 9.5 tonnes of cocaine from Ecuador, describing it as the country’s largest-ever seizure.

Spain’s proximity to North Africa, a key source of hashish, and its close ties with former colonies in Latin America, the world’s main cocaine-producing region, have made it a portal for drug-smuggling into Europe.

Investigators from Brazil, Croatia, France, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain collaborated with Serbian police in the investigation.