Spanish authorities bust 8-tonne cocaine haul worth more than €220 million

SPANISH authorities have helped perform one of the biggest drug busts in history.

Working with several European and American countries, they helped intercept two shipments with a total of 7.9 tonnes of cocaine.

The street value of the haul, described as one of the largest in history, is estimated to be around €226 million.

In the biggest bust, Spanish authorities cooperated with Ecuadorean police to intercept a ship off the Latin American country which was bringing more than 5.5 tonnes of cocaine to Spain.

The ship was loaded with Colombian cocaine in the Pacific and planned to travel through the Panama Canal and across the Atlantic to Europe, according to officials.

In a separate drug seizure, Spanish police stopped a Venezuela-flagged fishing vessel carrying 2.5 tonnes of cocaine near Martinica.

The US Drug Enforcement Agency and Britain’s National Crime Agency also took part in the joint operation.

Spain’s Interior Minister Juan Ignocio Zoido said the first operation saw the arrests of 24 suspected drug traffickers.

“It is one of the largest cocaine seizures in history and it takes apart a large drug-trafficking organization between South America and Spain,” he said.

The operation began after Spain found out in January that a South American ring with links in Spain was organizing a large shipment.

The intelligence was reportedly corroborated by the US, UK and Portugal.

Drug busts are common on the Iberian Peninsula, which is seen as a drug gateway to Europe.