MADRID: Spanish police announced on Monday their largest-ever seizure of cocaine at sea after impounding a Europe-bound container ship in the Atlantic Ocean carrying almost 10 tonnes of the drug.
Officers last week raided the Cameroon-flagged vessel which had left Brazil, seizing 9,994kg (22,033 pounds) of cocaine concealed in 294 packages in a shipment of salt, police said in a statement.
They arrested the 13 crew members and seized a firearm used to protect the stash in an operation involving US, Brazilian, UK, French and Portuguese authorities, the statement added.
Spain’s close ties with Latin America and proximity to Morocco, a top cannabis producer, make it a key entry point for drugs into Europe.
In 2024, Spanish police impounded 13 tonnes of cocaine from a container ship that had arrived at the southern port of Algeciras from Ecuador, the country’s largest-ever haul of the drug.