They intercept a fishing boat with more than 4,000 kilos of cocaine about 500 miles west of the Canary Islands.

The National Police seized more than 4,000 kilos of cocaine from a fishing boat flying the Panamanian flag west of the Canary Islands, divided into 100 bales of approximately 40 kilos each which were to be unloaded in the Rías Baixas (Galicia).

In addition, the 15 crew members of the ship, intercepted 500 miles (900 kilometers) west of the Canary Islands, were arrested and attracted attention for its suspicious activity since it had been previously sanctioned by the Panamanian authorities for having committed serious crimes. and his fishing license had been revoked.

The investigation began in early November when the North American Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) warned that a criminal organization could transfer a large quantity of cocaine between two ships on the high seas.

The fishing boat, suspected due to sanctions imposed by Panama, had also been monitored by agents of the National Police in the port of Vigo, as its activities were suspected of being linked to drug trafficking.

With all the information available, an operation was launched, under the direction of the Special Anti-Drug Prosecution of the National Court and with the support of the Spanish Navy, to try to locate the fishing boat that was in the waters of the Atlantic, 500 miles west of the Canary Islands.

With the help of the Spanish Navy ship Atalaya, on November 12, GEO agents and one of the investigators boarded the suspect ship and arrested the 15 crew members and seized around 100 bullets of cocaine weighing approximately 4,000 kilograms.