A Greek-managed cargo ship off the Canary Islands with 4.5 tonnes of cocaine has been spotted by Spanish authorities.
The Blume (built in 2005) was grounded on Tuesday (17/1) 193 nautical miles from the port of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, the capital of the Canary Islands, the website Eldia es Tenerife and confirmed by the authoritative website Trade Winds.
The Togo flagged vessel was reportedly sailing with its AIS tracking signal switched off. The last update was made on 17 January. The vessel had departed from the port of Santos in Brazil on 20 December.
He was arrested after a joint operation by the police and customs authorities, near the Canary Islands, as it was found that he was carrying 4.5 tons of cocaine - although it was initially estimated that it was 3 tons of cocaine, after the packages were weighed it was found that he was carrying 4.5 tons - while sailing from the coast of South America to the European continent of Europe.
15 people arrested
According to the Spanish publication, a total of 15 people were arrested. The intervention was made possible thanks to the intelligence services of the Spanish police, in particular the Maritime Analysis and Operations Centre for Drug Trafficking (MAOC).
The intervention was carried out by agents from the Narcotics and Organised Crime Unit (Udyco) of the National Police of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, the Organised Crime Unit (ECO-Canarias) of the Civil Guard and professionals from the tax administration, as well as from central units of the security forces.
