Spanish National Police’s Special Operations Group (GEO) has seized ship carrying three tons of high purity cocaine off Spain.
31 alleged members of a Spanish international drug-trafficking ring were arrested during the seizure. The operation was launched in January, where Spanish authorities worked in cooperation with the security forces of Bulgaria.
Representatives from the GEO state that the drugs had been offloaded near South America and were being shipped to the coast of Galicia in northwestern Spain for later transport to Madrid. An inspection of the ship, the SV Nikolay, was conducted at the Cadiz port throughout Wednesday.
Branches of the drug-trafficking network in Colombia, Bulgaria and Spain were also investigated as part of the operation. Six Spain-based suspects affiliated with the Colombian branch were arrested; another 21 people detained onboard the seized vessel were linked to the Bulgarian branch, which is reportedly responsible for maritime shipments of the illicit drugs, reports Fox News.
Four other detainees are suspected of belonging to the network's Spanish branch – responsible for distributing the drugs throughout Spain and putting them at the disposal of the Colombians.
The cocaine was loaded somewhere in the Caribbean Sea, near the South American coast but outside a country's territorial waters.
Date : August 17, 2012 Read more
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