Massive drugs busts sees Spanish police seize three tonnes of cocaine on fishing boat off Canary Islands

POLICE in Spain seized nearly 2.9 tonnes of cocaine in a raid on a fishing boat south of the Canary Islands.

The 20-meter-long AKT 1 was intercepted by a coast guard patrol on Wednesday around 300 nautical miles south of the Spanish archipelago.

At first glance it looked like any other fishing vessel but within its fuel tank was hidden bundles of the Class A drug with an estimated street value of around €90m.

“When we boarded, (officers) observed the fishing boat was transporting a significant number of bundles usually used for cocaine trafficking, so the five crew members of the boat – four of Turkish nationality and a Georgian citizen – were immediately arrested,” said a statement from the Guardia Civil released on Saturday.

The five crew members – four Turkish citizens and one person from Georgia – were arrested and the boat was taken to Gran Canaria.

Police said that it was part of an operation to crackdown on the “African route” used by traffickers to bring in drugs from South America to Europe.

READ MORE:

• Notorious matriarch of drug dealing clan among 50 arrested in massive police bust in Spain’s Mallorca