Panama 6.5 tons of cocaine seized on freighter in the Atlantic
Spanish special forces have seized around 6.5 tons of cocaine on a freighter in the Atlantic. The ship, coming from Panama and sailing under the Tanzanian flag, was intercepted around 600 nautical miles (1,100 kilometers) off the coast of the Canary Islands, the Spanish police announced. The freighter's port of destination was Vigo in north-western Spain, they said. All nine crew members had been arrested.
26.10.2025, 18:07
SDA
According to the police, the spectacular strike against the coke mafia - one of the biggest in Spain in recent years - was successful thanks to a tip-off from the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), which was received on October 8. The operation by a special group from the "Policía Nacional" took place on Wednesday. With the support of the Spanish navy, the almost 55-metre-long and 12-metre-wide freighter was boarded in the Atlantic Ocean.
According to the authorities, Spain is increasingly becoming one of the most important gateways for the South American cocaine mafia in Europe. "The whole of Europe is currently being flooded with cocaine, and Spain plays an important role as a gateway to the continent," warned Joan Ramón Villalbí, the government commissioner for the National Drug Plan, in the parliament in Madrid at the beginning of the year.
