Simon Wade
ALICANTE Courts have sentenced a man to six years to six years in prison after his failed attempt at importing nearly two tonnes of drugs on a pleasure yacht.
After overloading the vessel in February 2020, it sank some 15 miles outside of Torrevieja harbour.
He had rented the yacht, using a skipper’s licence obtained via an accomplice, who also received 18 months for his part in the bungled operation.
A series of fines running exceeding a million euros were handed out to further gang members that were found to be storing four unregistered high-speed semi-rigid inflatable boats in Santa Pola warehouses.
The yacht loaded with drugs sank 15 nautical miles out into the Mediterranean, south of Torrevieja
Some 86 bales of hashish resin weighing over two tonnes were destined for the open drugs market in and around Costa Blanca.
However, the excess load and rough seas sank the vessel, meaning the boat and the brew had to be rescued at sea.
The hashish was estimated to have a street value in excess of four million euros.
READ MORE: Criminal gang caught red-handed smuggling 15 tonnes of drugs into Spain on boat named ‘SEEFUCHS’
