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Spanish police seize 1.8 tonnes of cocaine on British yacht off Canary Islands

The Local Spain
The Local Spain - [email protected]
Spanish police seize 1.8 tonnes of cocaine on British yacht off Canary Islands
61 bales of the drug were found onboard. Photo: Policia Nacional

Spanish police seized over 1.8 tonnes of cocaine from a UK-flagged yacht off Las Palmas and arrested one Brit and two Frenchmen for smuggling.

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The yacht, named Pepper Sauce, was escorted into a naval base on Gran Canaria’s Las Palmas on Sunday morning after being boarded by Spanish customs officials 240 nautical miles off shore.

Spanish authorities released footage showing the dramatic moment officials boarded the 12-metre yacht which is suspected of being used to transport a shipment of South American cocaine into Spain.

Officers found 61 bales of the Class-A drug on board.

A statement from the National Police explained that the bust was the result of a joint operation between them and the Customs and Excise into a criminal gang smuggling drugs into Spain.

“The modus operandi was to charter yachts that either brought the drugs directly into Spanish ports or transferred on the high seas onto different vessels that then smuggled it into Spain for distribution.”

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