SPAIN may have carried out the largest cocaine seizure ever recorded at sea after intercepting a merchant vessel off the Moroccan coast.
The Guardia Civil boarded the Arconian in the Atlantic, with initial estimates suggesting it was carrying between 30 and 45 tonnes of cocaine.
The 90-metre Comoros-flagged merchant ship had left Freetown, Sierra Leone, on April 22 and was said to be heading to Benghazi.
Investigators believe the route was a cover for drug trafficking into Europe.
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Officers intercepted the vessel near Dakhla, discovering around 1,500 packages of cocaine, each weighing between 25 and 30 kilos.
If confirmed, the haul would be more than triple Spain’s previous records and rank among the largest seizures ever made worldwide.
Under heavy escort, the ship arrived at the port of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria on Sunday afternoon.
A total of 23 crew members, primarily from the Philippines and Angola, have been arrested.
The operation is being carried out under orders from Spain’s National Court and remains under strict secrecy.
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However, according to Diario de Cadiz, sources indicate the scale could far exceed previous busts.
For comparison, nearly 10 tonnes of cocaine were seized in January from the cargo ship United S, which was intercepted west of El Hierro and later unloaded in Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
At the time, it was the largest ever seizure at sea in Europe, while the largest seizure in a single operation on Spanish soil was 13 tonnes.
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