John Culatto
A TOTAL of 13 bales of hashish, thrown overboard by suspected smugglers, have been confiscated by Customs officers in Gibraltar waters.
The bales of cannabis resin weigh over 400 kilos with a street market value of more than £2 million.
The action unfolded at 9.30am on September 10 when the authorities were told that a rigid inflatable boat was speeding through Gibraltar waters.
The Customs Marine Unit on HMC Searcher were quickly on the scene and started to chase the suspected smugglers.
The crew of the boat then tried to shake off the long arm of the law and started throwing the bales of hashish into the sea.
As the suspected boat lost weight, they gained speed and soon created a decent distance with HMS Searcher.
The fast launch then managed to navigate the choppy eastern seas and leave British Gibraltar Territorial Waters.
At this point the Customs craft stopped chasing the suspected boat.
With the help of the Gibraltar Defence Police and Department of the Environment launches they fished out the 13 bales of cannabis.
Stubbed out
In a separate incident, Customs found a vehicle with 650 cartons of cigarettes at Western Beach on Wednesday night.
The failed tobacco smuggling attempt was foiled by the Customs marine unit which caught sight of a boat near a vehicle.
Although the suspected smugglers had fled, they left the vehicle with the doors wide open and the cigarettes inside.
The vehicle and tobacco was seized and taken to the Four Corners depot.
