Alex Trelinski
SIX drug traffickers who stole a boat from Altea were caught out when having a spot of lunch some 50 kilometres down the coast at El Campello in Alicante province.
A couple were walking their dog when they saw the men sat under a pine tree eating and drinking in an area rarely used by people.
Moments later the husband spotted a pleasure boat anchored offshore and recognised it as having been stolen the previous day from a friend of his in Altea.
El Campello Policia Local and Guardia Civil officers cordoned off the area to arrest the six suspects at Morro Blanc cove last Tuesday.
Two of the men tried unsuccessfully to escape and threw objects like their mobile phones into the sea.
Divers recovered the gear the following day, while the boat was towed to Alicante for a thorough inspection to gather more evidence against the traffickers.
Investigators believe that stolen boats are used to transfer fuel to the ‘narco-boats’ that are loaded with drugs from North Africa, which means they don’t have to come ashore to fuel up for a return journey.
The small boats also transfer the illegal shipments to shore.
READ MORE:
- Drug traffickers steal €400,000 boat from Costa Blanca marina in Spain to use as narco-craft
- Narcoboat and money laundering gang broken up in Costa Blanca and Almeria areas of Spain
- Six years for man rescued after sinking rented boat laden with drugs bound for Torrevieja on Spain’s Costa Blanca
