Sailboats in the Canary Islands: The heart of ‘My love’ was full of cocaine | Spain | The USA Print

The Atlantic cocaine route is becoming very difficult for the drug traffickers. So far this year, the prize ship fulmar, of the Customs Surveillance Service (SVA), has seized 12.6 tons of cocaine in its prowl through the waters of the Canary Islands. The last blow was dealt this weekend with the boarding of the sailboat my loveflying the Belgian flag and with two Spanish crew members, towards which the customs officers sailed towing another sailboat (named close here) they had intercepted, also stuffed with cocaine. The two sloops together transported 1,139 kilos of cocaine and, finally, both had to be towed by the fulmar to the port of Tenerife, where they arrived with calm waters this Tuesday morning.

The special operations ship of the Ministry of Finance received the order on March 3 to sail towards a suspicious vessel that was located some 350 miles from Santa Cruz de Tenerife (about 650 kilometers, like the distance between Madrid and Malaga). The Spanish police authorities had been alerted by the United States DEA by the British NCA that the yacht was within range of the fulmar.

The customs officers were already towing another ship to the Canary Islands, the close here, arrested after a joint anti-drug operation with the National Police and the Civil Guard. Despite the fact that “the maneuvers were much more difficult” due to the bad state of the sea and having a tow line laid, the SVA special operations ship found the ship. my love and boarded it, after requesting authorization from the Belgian authorities. The drugs were in the bow cabin of the yacht, a Bavaria of about 15 meters in length, with a huge central cabin.

The sailboats carried 22 bales of cocaine, which weighed 1,139 kilos, of which 600 were on the ship. close here and the other 539, in the My Love. This operation has been directed and coordinated by the Anti-drug Prosecutor of the National Court and the Central Court of Instruction number 5 of the National Court.

With this new operation, since the beginning of 2023, the Spanish security forces have intercepted cocaine shipments in the Atlantic from the Canary Islands totaling 12.6 tons: 4,500 kilos on board the merchant blume2,500 kilos on the sailboat Mambo4,500 kilos in the cattle transport ship Orionand the 1,139 kilos of the two new sailboats, with a total of 51 detainees.