The Spanish Police and Navy, in collaboration with the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), have apprehended a vessel carrying the largest seizure of cocaine ever intercepted at sea by European security forces: 9,994 kilograms. The operation took place 535 kilometers from the Canary Islands. According to the operation's leaders, who reported at the port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife on Monday, the Cameroonian-flagged ship United S was boarded in the Atlantic by agents from the Spanish Police's special operations group, detaining all 13 crew members: seven Indians, four Turks, and two Serbs. The last two were onboard as a guarantee that the cocaine would reach its destination, and one of them was armed, specified National Police's Central Brigade of Narcotics Commander Alberto Morales at the port. He emphasized the significance of the 'Marea Blanca' operation due to the quantity of drugs seized, nearly 10 tons, which constitutes the largest maritime cocaine seizure since 1999, when the Tammsaare vessel was intercepted with 7,500 kilograms of cocaine in its bow. He also added that the cargo was to be distributed among various organizations ready to collect it at sea, which precipitated the boarding of the United S ship, which was allegedly transporting a cargo of salt from Brazil to a port in Turkey, from where it had departed months earlier. In fact, about one ton of cocaine, distributed in 37 bales on the starboard side, was ready for immediate unloading. The rest of the cocaine was stored in one of the ship's two holds, where the bales were interspersed between lines of salt cargo. The operation presented an additional difficulty, as the ship ran out of fuel and adrift for nearly 12 hours, so it had to be towed to the port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, explained the Government Subdelegate in the province, Jesús Javier Plata. The investigation focused on an international organization allegedly dedicated to the export of 'immense quantities' of cocaine from South America to Europe, states the Spanish Police in a statement. This operation is a 'forceful blow' to international criminal networks involved in maritime cocaine trafficking and 'demonstrates the effectiveness of international police cooperation' in the fight against global drug trafficking, adds the National Police. The DEA from the United States, the NCA from the United Kingdom, the Federal Police of Brazil, and the Maritime Coordination Center Against Drugs in Lisbon, as well as French authorities, collaborated in the operation.
