Agents of the National Police, in a joint operation with the Civil Guard and the Marine Infantry of the Guinea Conakry Navy, have seized 270 kilograms of cocaine hydrochloride in a boat that was in the Atlantic Ocean, 80 miles west from Guinea Conakry.
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The five members of the crew, who had a history of drug trafficking, have been arrested.
The investigations began when the agents became aware that the vessel could be transporting a significant amount of cocaine hydrochloride. At that time, the relevant steps were initiated both with the National High Court and with the CITCO in order to mobilize the appropriate maritime means.
The vessel, which had been docked in the Port of Ceuta, and which left for the south, was in contact with other people who were in Turkey, for which reason the Anti-Drug Prosecutor's Office was requested to file a complaint to authorize the ship boarding.
Given the urgency that existed due to the fact that the vessel was going to proceed, after receiving the merchandise from a second unknown ship off the coast of Guinea Conakry, to transfer the cargo to a third ship, the use of Spanish own means was ruled out, since it was feasible to arrive on time for the scheduled delivery.
For this reason, different authorities from France OFAST, the United Kingdom NCA, and the USA DEA were contacted in order to locate the appropriate means to locate the vessel and seize the merchandise.
As a result of the intelligence provided by the Turkish authorities, by the attache of the Turkish Embassy in Spain and the British NCA, it was possible to find out the area where the boat was located, near the coast of Conakry.
Given the lack of availability of other means, contact was made with the Interior Attaché at the Spanish Embassy in Guinea Conakry, who, after successful negotiations with the Ministries of the Interior and Defense of that country, together with a member of the security of the Spanish Embassy, embarked on a patrol boat of the Navy of Guinea Conakry in order to try to locate the vessel and proceed to witness an inspection in agreement with the Guinean authority and the attaché of the Embassy of Turkey in Spain.
After a first unsuccessful attempt to locate the ship, in which the Guinea Conakry Navy patrol boat sailed for 24 hours trying to locate the ship, it returned to port for two hours to go out again with the Spanish officials and riflemen from the Marine Corps of the Guinea Conakry Navy, who located the vessel some 80 miles from the country's capital, where they proceeded to inspect it on their own authority as there were suspicions that it could be transporting contraband. 275 packages of cocaine hydrochloride were located and the five citizens who made up the crew were arrested.
The second navigation, which lasted another 24 hours, ended in the Port of Conakry, where the captain of the Navy patrol boat put the five detainees, the boat and the 275 packets of cocaine at the disposal of the country's Gendarmerie. ■